Public Involvement
Public issues education prepares citizens to engage in complex public issues of widespread concern in ways that lead to better-informed decisions. The principle objectives are as follows:
- Increase citizens' knowledge about issues.
- Assist citizens in determining appropriate and effective strategies for public decision making.
- Help citizens craft, evaluate and implement alternative solutions.
- Build skills and provide opportunities to enhance citizens' effective participation in public decision making processes.
WSU Extension leads and supports public issues education programs and public involvement in a variety of ways. Here are some useful resources.
National Issues Forum
National Issues Forums [NIF] are a nonpartisan, nationwide network of locally sponsored public forums for the consideration of nationwide public policy issues such as health care, and money and politics. NIF is rooted in the simple notion that people need to come together to reason and talk - to deliberate about common problems. Kay Haaland, WSU Extension, and Debra Lancaster, WSU Learning Center, occasionally conduct NIF forums, notes are kept of the participants' comments and concerns. They also complete a post-forum questionnaire on their level of agreement with various positions discussed during the forum. Locally, the results are compiled for the NIF research team and eventually the data, collected from forums around the country, is compiled and reported to officials at the national level, congressional staff and others with special interest in the topic.
Public Involvement: Practice and Methods
Some of the best information available on public involvement comes from the International Association for Public Participation. For specific public involvement methods, check out the association's toolbox at IAP2 Toolbox.
Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation from IAP2:
- The public should have a say in decisions about actions that affect their lives.
- Public participation includes the promise taht the public's contribution will influence the decision.
- The public participation process communicates the interests and meets the process needs of all participants.
- The public participation process seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected.
- The public participation process involves participants in defining how they participate.
- The public participation process provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
- The public participation process communicates to participants how their input affected the decision.
Resources for Information on Working with Controversial and Complex Public Issues
Websites:
- National Issues Forums and Issue Framing http://www.nifi.org/
- Kettering Foundation http://www.kettering.org/
- Study Circles Resource Center http://www.studycircles.org/
- Public Agenda http://publicagenda.org/
- Public Conversations Project http://www.publicconversations.org/
- National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation http://www.thataway.org/
- International Association for Public Participation http://www.iap2.org/
- U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution http://www.ecr.gov/index.htm
If you wish to join the Skagit County-based public forums (and related issues) email notification list, contact Kay Haaland at kayh@co.skagit.wa.us.
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