Casting a Wide Net in the Quest for Public Involvement May Miss the Very People We Need to Reach the Most - 23314

Is there a hole in your net? Zip codes, census data, surveys, and statistics - these demographic tools may inform us of the numbers of people in our project areas and their spatial distributions, housing types, incomes, and national origins, but these data and attributes are oblique. The data don't provide us with an understanding of how the communities we need to work with, work. Obtaining information on how a community functions to survive or thrive requires access, and access requires an invitation. Without this open-door invitation, we often find ourselves in front of a mirror, relying on our own assumptions, interpretations, and experiences to present an image that we want to see as opposed to what is actually there. As project planners, insights on how individual communities and the people within them learn, engage, and potentially accept or even support proposed projects is important. We need 'the rest of the story'; the undercurrents and intelligence that the people in community hold as both treasure and history. There is no obligation or responsibility on the part of the community to share these assets and insights that are critical to project planning. It is also not the responsibility of the community to define itself for us. We must understand how the community defines itself, and it is all but guaranteed that this definition does not include demographic data or zip codes. Outreach cannot be a one-size-fits-all formula. We cannot only reach out; we need to reach in to learn about a community and then step back and listen so that we may learn. Outreach is about striving to understand how projects may affect a community...through the eyes of those most impacted. How can we learn about the effects on a community beyond those of physical changes; the things that cannot be measured, but instead are experienced by community members? First, we must find and engage with those would be impacted. This active method of outreach begins with seeking out the respected leaders in the community. These individuals have the context and background to help us plan and deliver projects more efficiently, effectively, and with the support of the community, setting the stage for long-term success. Active outreach requires more than consulting a map or conducting a pedestrian survey. We need to be explorers; leave the comforts of our computers, cell phones, and cars and get out and into the communities where the change is proposed. It is only from this point of departure that we can learn what potentially impacted individuals and communities are interested in, worried about, would like to learn more about, are supportive of, and more. We must repair and recast our net to achieve better results. (authors)