In Pro Landscaper’s recent Public Spaces Special, we ask the question: How can we make sure public consultations are maximised for inclusivity?
Creating spaces that truly serve all walks of life is only possible when diverse voices are part of the decision making process – so how can we ensure consultations are genuinely inclusive?
Chris Chippendale – principal landscape architect, Ground Control
“Blending traditional and digital methods”
In an evolving landscape of technology and communication, ensuring public consultations are inclusive demands more than traditional face-to-face meetings. While in person events remain valuable, modern engagement now embraces virtual meetings, social media interactions, and web based consultations. Innovative formats from short videos to virtual reality headsets can also maximise engagement from all ages of the community and bring proposals to life.
Flexibility in timings and locations is equally crucial, particularly when engaging specific focus groups. On a recent park project, for example, we met key stakeholders such as the tennis and netball clubs during their regular training sessions and engaged the local volunteer group as part of one of their activity days. Meeting people in familiar, accessible settings not only increases turnout to such events through convenient timings and locations but also fosters more open, relevant conversations, demonstrating your dedication to engage and understand their needs and viewpoints.
By blending traditional and digital methods, tailoring approaches to community needs, and removing logistical barriers, consultations can move beyond simple information-sharing to genuine dialogue that are inclusive for all, build trust, encourage diverse voices, and ultimately deliver better, more representative outcomes.
Dr Gemma Jerome FLI – head of green infrastructure, Sintali
“Optimise outcomes for both existing and new communities is early”
A foundational principle of high-quality placemaking to optimise outcomes for both existing and new communities is early, effective, and proportionate engagement throughout all stages of planning and development. Whilst there is often a good appreciation of how statutory processes can be made more inclusive through targeted communications that reflect identified strengths and needs of diverse groups, including marginalised and vulnerable groups, often consultation efforts can be focused on early design discussions.
This can leave communities feeling that the relationship is one-way, and is simply serving the need for planning approval, rather than building a long-term relationship, fostering trust, exchanging knowledge and skills, and potentially leading to partnership and community delegation, for example community ownership of community assets and green spaces.
The Engagement Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work is an exceptional place to start when considering how to implement more effective strategies. From defining the need for a project and conceptualising the design to final handover, at each stage there are opportunities for supporting non-technical understanding and input from wider communities of interest, coordinating, and communicating between key stakeholders, and routes to maximise social value. This open-source guidance document published by RIBA in 2024 should be a go-to approach for any built environment professionals looking to realise a community-centred approach to placemaking and maximise inclusivity in public consultations.
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