Council Initiative Progress Updates
A few of the 80 volunteers (City staff and community members) involved in the five working groups
The City sends a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to Phase 1 and 2 of the Council Initiative on Public Engagement and for your contribution in transforming public engagement in Edmonton.
June Progress Update
Phase 2 was launched in late 2015 with the creation of an Advisory Committee made up of City staff and community members, created to guide the Council Initiative. Also, five working groups consisting of residents and City employees were established to address the five strategic areas of focus identified in the Phase 1 through engagement with over 1,000 Edmontonians.
One can not overstate the passion and commitment that City staff and community members are bringing to their work. Although there is a clear focus on tangible outcomes, the process of City staff and community members working together is an example of the public engagement transformation we are working towards.
An example of the work underway to redefine the City-Citizen collaboration in public engagement is the ‘public engagement continuum’ being developed by the Vision, Framework and Policy Working Group. Candid discussion emerged as the group developed a visual aid to describe the different types of public engagement and the overall aspirations in Edmonton.
Together City staff and community members crafted options for a continuum that elevates the importance of clear communication, relationship development, leadership and capacity building throughout public engagement. The goal of the continuum and visual aid is to provide a useful tool for both the City of Edmonton and community members to understand the processes of public engagement, and the different types
Engagement Shifts
Infill has been a controversial topic amongst Community residents and City Staff. It is not an easy task to balance the privacy needs of residents with the growing demand for central and affordable housing. Moving theory into practice, Senior Planners with the Sustainable Development Branch of City Planning pursued a new approach that proved to have fantastic results! Read the article on new rules for Edmonton row houses in the Edmonton Journal that discusses this shift.
Councillor Andrew Knack Joins the Council Initiative
In 2014, this initiative was led by Councillors Ben Henderson and Michael Walters. With time came growth, and now Councillor Andrew Knack will be joining in and offering his expertise to the critical conversations about how to improve public engagement in the City.
“Having spent a number of years involved with the community leagues before getting the opportunity to serve on Council, I have been able to experience both excellent and some not so great public engagement. It is unlikely that there will ever be an issue where everyone agrees but by ensuring the public engagement is done very well, it will help us get to the point where every person who participated knows they were actually heard and can understand why the decision was made, even if it wasn’t what they personally wanted.”
Andrew says he is honoured to serve the people of Ward 1 and the rest of Edmonton in his role as City Councillor. He is a strong advocate of our community league system and served on both the Meadowlark and Jasper Park Community Leagues. Andrew currently serves as Council representative on the City of Edmonton Youth Council and Edmonton NextGen. He is also responsible for three other Council Initiatives - Seniors, Transit and Post-Secondary.
Working It
Working Group Members share their stories and updates from their Working Groups within the Council Initiative on Public Engagement.
Mack Male
Community Member
Vision, Framework & Policy Working Group
“I think seizing the opportunity to contribute to the decisions being made in Edmonton is an important part of being a good citizen. I want to have a say on things that will affect the places I live, work, and play. I’ve been critical of how our city does public engagement in the past and my participation in CIPE is a way for me to do something about it. Edmonton is a fast-growing and ever-changing place, and CIPE is a critical step for improving how all Edmontonians can be involved in shaping that exciting future.”
Don’t let this sweet smile fool you, Mack Male has been one of the leading critical voices in the evolution of the Council Initiative on Public Engagement. Lover of the Oxford comma, unwavered by hierarchy or social norms, Mack speaks his truth from real experience of building online communities to engage with City Hall on controversial issues like the closure of the Municipal Airport.
Mack has been central to the successes of the Vision, Framework & Policy Working Group, including defining the overall Vision, Guiding Principles and the above noted Continuum diagram. A survey on the Vision Statement & Guiding Principles has been sent out to over 7,000 members of the public and City staff.
Karen Zypchen
Community Member
Evaluation, Reporting and Recognition Working Group
“I am passionate about the need to transform how the City of Edmonton has been doing public engagement because it is about spreading an innovation within a large public institution as well as within society for the public good. Public engagement is an innovation in decision-making, and like all innovations, it will require strategy, time, and resources for it to get adopted. Creating a standard at the City for evaluation of public engagement will play a critical role in providing evidence to help support its adoption by City administration, City Council, and citizens.”
One can’t help but walk away energized after talking with Karen Zypchen. The former CBC Radio reporter and journalism instructor at MacEwan University led her program through innovation and change as communication technologies and practices evolved. After a 10-year career teaching and focusing especially on citizen participation in the news, she left academia to pursue her interests in the field of public participation. She is now a consultant in stakeholder engagement, innovation, and communication. In 2016, the IABC recognized Karen’s work as an innovator in the field of communications, inviting her to be one of the leading presenters at its World Conference.
This dynamic woman has spent hundreds of hours researching the best practices of Public Engagement and delving into the nitty gritty of evaluation theory and practices. It was part of a recent project for the International Association of Public Participation, to which Karen belongs. Karen researched and wrote a white paper for IAP2 Canada, “Challenges and Advancements in Evaluating Public Participation,” which will be published in April 2016. Despite her affinity for research papers and academic literature, Karen knows how to share her knowledge in a way that reaches people. “I’m looking for the ‘public engagement beef’,” she explained candidly in one of her presentations. “I want to get at the substance of the matters: the heart.”
Karen has been a driving force in moving her Working Group towards clear and practical outcomes that capture the benefits of good evaluation for not only participants, but also the practitioners and sponsors of public engagement activities.
Anne Harvey
City Staff
Community Leadership Working Group
“To achieve meaningful public engagement, we need to work together to create sustainable relationships and connections with Edmontonians and their community leaders.”
An ACE in her field, Anne is the Project Manager for Abundant Community Edmonton (ACE). Using her skills and experience in community development, Anne balances the demands of her City role, with the responsibilities of assisting the Co-Chairs of the Community Leadership Working Group, ensuring her team members are on track in delivering on the critical outcomes of analyzing the existing landscape of community leaders and leadership programs, projects, and networks in Edmonton. Her connections include helping to link with the community building staff in the Citizen Services Department, learning from their outreach experience and aiding in co-creating pathways to improve how the City could support and engage with leaders in our communities.
Anne’s Working Group is fundamental in ensuring that the proposals of the Council Initiative on Public Engagement are truly beneficial to advancing Community Leadership within our great city.
Dave Trautman
Community Member
Learning & Training Working Group
“You’ll know public engagement is working when no one shows up for a Public Hearing.”
“ I had become concerned about the direction public meetings were taking and saw an opportunity to provide some suggestions on ways to make it work better. I am pleased to see so many other concerned members of the community stepping forward to contribute their expertise as well as their time to changing the culture at City Hall.”
Local producer and Media specialist, Dave Trautman is a veteran representative of Civil Society who has been engaging City Hall on a range of issues on behalf of residents in the Argyll neighbourhood. He has experience in training technologies, education, distance learning, and is an expert in communications theory. As President of the Argyll Community League, Dave brought invaluable information as a Community Co-Chair on methods to identify stakeholders for the consultation process who can help City Staff make better decisions. If we truly want to transform Edmonton’s public engagement process we need to have the right people in the room.
Carla Stolte
Community Member gone City Staff
Tools, Techniques and Practices Working Group
“As the saying goes ‘If you’re not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.’ When it comes to the public engagement at the City, residents have spoken loud and clear that there is a problem, and I want to be part of the solution! There is so much collective and rich wisdom from residents that is imperative to consider when making decisions about the future of Edmonton. My excitement for this initiative comes from the hope that with better engagement, citizens of Edmonton will feel empowered to take part in creating a city of which to be proud. Edmonton is such a fantastic place to live, work and play...with the deeper and stronger engagement from all citizens that will emerge from this Council Initiative, Edmonton has the potential to be even more fantastic - and that is something that gets me really excited!”
Carla is proof that busy people get stuff done and do it well. A Mother and Community League President, Carla began with the Council Initiative on Public Engagement wearing the hat of Neighbourhood Connector with the Abundant Communities Edmonton (ACE) Initiative. Maintaining her various roles in her neighbourhood, she now also works for the City of Edmonton, and sits on two Working Groups - Evaluation, Reporting and Recognition, and Tools, Techniques and Practices - while also completing a Masters Degree in Community Development! Her passion to put neighbourhoods and residents at the center of both her personal and professional life is clear and it rings through in the energy she brings to her groups.
Tools, Techniques and Practices is pioneering new and innovative approaches to involving people in decision making, and in many ways leading the way to suggest the best methods possible for transforming the City of Edmonton’s public engagement.
Have Something to Say about the Council Initiative on Public Engagement?
Write us! at councilinitiativeonpublicengagement@edmonton.ca
For More Information
Claire Ashton
| Title | Council Initiative on Public Engagement |
|---|---|
| Telephone | 780-442-5179 |
| councilinitiativeonpublicengagement@edmonton.ca |
