Engagement Services

Engaging people to work together to make cities work is not just in our name, it is our passion. Our engagement and communications team’s expertise is helping our clients and community members work together to forge a common vision of the future, as well as agreement as to how implementation will happen. Change can be hard, but also exciting as we facilitate collaborations that result in a better future for everyone.

Engagement services focus on climate change and its inter-related issues of transportation, land use, water and energy. We regularly support our internal team of architects and planners for these projects, as well as public agencies and large A/E firms developing major infrastructure projects and managing our natural resources. We expertly inform and engage community stakeholders in ways that develop and nurture trust in project leads and the process itself. Related sustainability programs that encourage transit use, bicycling and walking, and also those that build resilience and change behaviors are a specialty of our team.

See Below to Learn More About Specific Projects

Our engagement plans work to remove barriers to participation, centering equity and inclusivity in the methods they define. These methods include large public workshops, charrettes, open houses and small group facilitations—both in-person and online; council and board presentations; one-to-one business and residential outreach; focus groups, interviews and online surveys; and events such as ribbon cuttings, pop-up events and tours. We encourage partnering with community-based organizations, going to where people are, and aligning with the issues that are top of mind for them. Supporting communications include traditional press communications, printed collaterals, and digital communication such as social media campaigns, project webpages, and webinars.

Specific strategies and approaches tailored to each project are used by our team to help our clients develop the trusted relationships needed to succeed. Engagement is planned out and integrated with the phases of project and program tasks with a focus on ensuring the people impacted by a decision or change are involved in those decisions.

Leading our engagement and communication services is Engagement Partner, Catherine Smith, known as an expert in public participation. She is one of the first professionals to be certified in the country as a Public Participation Practitioner by the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2). She ensures that the best practices of public participation are integrated in all the engagement services we provide. Additionally, she is one of only seven IAP2-licensed trainers in the USA, training agency staff, consultants, boards and others in the methods of the IAP2.