Improving Citizen Participation: 8 Lessons from the Charrette Model
/For most housing and community development practitioners, the citizen participation process has become a rote routine of box-checking. In order to meet grant requirements and program regulations, we advertise public notices that few will ever read, hold public hearings that few will attend, and file away copies of nearly empty sign-in sheets as a record of our compliance. While these types of citizen participation approaches do technically meet requirements that there be opportunity for participation by the public, they are a far cry from approaches that actually engage the public in the planning process.
Most of the current innovation in the science of public engagement comes from the planning field. One tenet of professional planning, and a mark of a good planner, is the ability to identify and give structure to the plan a community has for itself, no matter how vague or divergent it may seem. Such a responsibility necessarily requires active participation from members of the public. In the course of implementing varied approaches to active public engagement, the Charrette Model has emerged as a current best practice within the planning profession – and it holds promise for community development practitioners as well.
A charrette is a multi-day, collaborative planning event that engages all affected parties to create and support a feasible plan that represents transformative community change. While most often used by planners in scenarios involving community master plans, tax allocation district plans, or comprehensive plans, the Charrette Model is a valuable tool that can be adapted for any plan-making that requires input and feedback from various affected parties and community stakeholders.
Numerous resources are available to those wanting to learn more about charrettes in general (The National Charrette Institute is an excellent start). The following eight principles, distilled from the Charrette Model, are lessons for the community development practitioner. As you set out on your next citizen participation exercise, consider incorporating some or all of these principles into your process.
1. Stakeholder Identification
Begin the citizen participation process by identifying each of the viewpoints to be included and then develop a plan to incorporate them. For example, if you determine on the front end that it is important to include people with disabilities, you can then identify organizations that represent this point of view and actively plan to include them in the process. Other points of view for consideration could include low- and moderate-income neighborhood associations, affordable housing developers, people speaking English as a second language, or transit authority officials.
2. Cross-Functional Work
Planners understand that good planning requires the work and input of people across multiple disciplines. In the same way, CD professionals should identify the areas of functional expertise required and plan to consult professionals within those disciplines in the development of their plans. Will your planning document refer to zoning or construction standards or transportation access? It is better to seek early input from people who know these areas best, rather than have them point out flaws in your research after the plan is complete.
3. Multiple Feedback Loops
Citizen participation should be a process, not an event. Participants engaged early in the process should be specifically invited back at later points to review and provide feedback on the plans as they develop. Each of these opportunities to provide initial input, and then subsequent feedback on the interpretation of that input, is known as a feedback loop. This approach is an important departure from the typical citizen participation process where there is just one opportunity for feedback. Typically, input is received at a needs assessment workshop at the outset of the process and then, after draft plans are complete, the public comment period provides an opportunity for feedback. By creating more opportunities at intermediate points for review and feedback, there is a greater ability to refine the content.
4. Public Kickoff Meeting
A public kickoff meeting convenes all identified stakeholders for the purpose of introducing the plans and documents to be developed, laying out the citizen participation process (highlighting each opportunity for review and feedback), and soliciting initial input. Publicly “kicking off” the plan development process raises the community’s awareness of the issues and concepts to be studied in preparation of the final document. Whether because of stakeholders passing word along to their colleagues or mentions in the local press, the public nature of the project kickoff can lead to greater participation.
5. Neighborhood Meetings
In addition to a kickoff meeting, the Charrette Model emphasizes public meetings located in the areas most affected by the proposed plans. Whether held for needs assessment or for public hearing purposes, meetings in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods most likely to be impacted by the plans in development can remove barriers for participation of residents. A meeting at City Hall may be convenient for you, but a neighborhood meeting is likely to be more convenient for members of the public you hope to engage.
6. Community Tours
Often in conjunction with the neighborhood meetings, the Charrette Model advocates tours of the affected communities. For our purposes, these are most often the low- and moderate-income neighborhoods where your HUD resources are most likely to be invested. Certainly if your plan will identify specific geographic priorities or a Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area, a tour could be even more important. The tour, whether with professional stakeholders or with residents of the community, gives you an opportunity to observe actual neighborhood conditions and may open participants’ eyes to issues of which they were previously unaware. For example, if a focus on demolition of abandoned, blighted properties is contemplated, a tour highlighting those properties can help others see the importance of the issue. It could also motivate participating nonprofits or community foundations to consider supporting the issue as well.
7. Stakeholder Interviews
It is imperative that the stakeholders identified in the first step of a typical charrette process be involved and have an opportunity to contribute their input. If they have not been able to participate in the various meetings held, consider inviting them for an interview. Where possible, it is advantageous for the interview to be conducted by an impartial third party so the subject can share more freely. If a consultant is not being used to conduct the citizen participation process, perhaps a local university can assist with the stakeholder interviews.
8. Background Education
The most productive discussions will take place when the participants are well informed regarding the issues they are asked for input or comment on. Therefore, before kicking off the citizen participation process, it is important to assemble a coherent approach that can be used in multiple forums to guide the public’s understanding of the plans being developed. The kickoff meeting, the neighborhood meetings, and the interviews should all begin with an educational presentation covering the purpose of the plans, the process and timetable for their development, a description of the steps that will be taken after they are complete, and an exploration of the types of assistance and activities eligible for funding under the plans.
These eight lessons from the Charrette Model exceed and improve upon HUD’s current baseline standards for citizen participation. However, there are indications that HUD is interested in heightening its standards. Staff in HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities have previously held conversations with the National Charrette Institute regarding the Charrette Model for public engagement and Section 5.158 of HUD’s proposed Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule (Federal Register, Vol. 78; No. 139; Friday, July 19, 2013; Page 43709) contemplates “meaningful community participation.” A review of your Citizen Participation Plan will likely reveal room for improvement; the eight Charrette Model principles described here should be a helpful starting point.
