Community and Stakeholder Engagement Guidance

Awareness and Information Sharing

Before gathering input, people need to know about the recreation plan or project. Use existing tools and resources to share information when possible. Provide an overview of the purpose and goals. Let people know how they can provide input. Give regular updates so people know their input is being used. Share draft and final plans.

Use several tools to reach people. Identify existing tools or use common platforms to share information. Consider the following:

• Website - Is there an existing website hosted by a nonprofit, local government, or business? Can it be easily updated? Does it have a calendar or a way to share details about community engagement events?
• Social media - Who manages social media accounts that are relevant to the plan? Where do locals and visitors go to get information?
• Fliers - Where are gathering spots in the community? Is there a bulletin board or other place to post fliers?
• Newspaper - Is there a local daily or weekly newspaper? Will local media write stories about the plan?
• Community events - Are there festivals, farmers markets, or other events that bring people together?
• Schools - Do the schools share community information with parents and students? Do they host events during the school year?
• Email list or newsletter - Do community or government organizations send newsletters?

Stakeholder Buy-In

Stakeholders are community members that have a special interest in a project. See the Steering Committee Guidance tool for a list of questions to help identify stakeholders. The steering commitee should also make a list of information needs from stakeholders or stakeholder groups.

Stakeholder information may include:

• Existing plan such as: transportation plan, community development plan, or state/regional plans
• Existing survey data such as: New Hampshire Community Profiles, 603 Bright Futures surveys, community needs surveys
• Reports such as: community or county demographics, population changes, or economic growth
• GIS data such as: roads and trails, natural resources, or points of interest. See the Outdoor Recreation Activity and Asset Inventory tool and the Maps of Outdoor Recreation tool for more information on collecting GIS data.

The Statewide Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan, or SCORP, is a useful resource for recreation projects. It lists needs for outdoor recreation access in different parts of the state. Colleges and universities may also have reports and data that can inform the project.

Stakeholders want to share the information they have! This can be requested through a phone call, an in-person meeting, or an email. Beyond documents and data, it is also helpful to hear from stakeholders directly. Use the following stakeholder interview guide to gather insights from people who know the area well. This can be done in one-on-one interviews or with a small group (also known as a focus group).

A focus group is a group of people with similar interests or experiences

Stakeholder Interview Guide:

• What is your role in the community?
• How do you think <insert project name> will benefit the community?
• What concerns do you have about <insert project name>?
• What is most important to focus on for <insert project name>?
• Are there any recreation projects you think are good models for our community?
• What do you hope we accomplish by this time next year? 5 years from now?

Make sure there is a notetaker to document stakeholder discussions. These can also be recorded (with consent) if the meetings use a virtual platform such as Zoom or Google Meet. For one-on-one meetings or focus groups, the notetaker should write or type key points from the discussion. A verbatim transcript is not necessary.

Public Outreach

Once people are aware of the planning process, it's time to gather input from the community. Public outreach should include different ways for people to engage.

Community Survey

A community survey is a useful way to reach a lot of people. A survey gathers insights from different community members such as residents, businesses, and service organizations. It can also be used to gather input from recreation visitors and tourists. The survey will inform the vision and priorities for the recreation plan. See the Survey Topic Framework tool and Survey Question Bank tool for more details on creating a survey and possible questions to include.

There are two ways to administer a survey:

• In-person - Use paper forms or a digital tool. Have volunteers ask people questions at community events, recreation sites, or other gathering spots.
• Online - Use a digital tool. Distribute via a QR code with fliers, newsletters, social media, website, and community events.

Digital Survey Tools:

Google Forms - Free

Survey Monkey - Paid

Microsoft Form - Free with Microsoft Account

Survey 123 - Paid (ArcGIS account)

Interpreting survey results can be time-consuming! AI tools such as ChatGPT can help. See the Public Input Review section below for more information.

Public Meeting

A public meeting is a great way to share information and gather ideas. Public meetings are sometimes called town halls or open houses. Use a format that is familiar to your community and will get people to show up!

A few more tips for successful public meetings:

• Pick a date and time that works for the people you want to come.
• Hold the meeting in a place that is familiar to community members.
• Always have food! It can be simple treat like cookies or a full meal if the budget allows.
• Provide childcare so families with children can attend.

Public Meeting: Any meeting that is open to the public. Public meetings often include information sharing and discussion.

Town Hall: Provides a way for elected officials or project proponents to share information with the public. The format is a presentation followed by questions and answers.

Open House: Provides an informal setting for the public to learn about a project or issue and interact with project representatives. The format is posters or displays with project information. Project representatives are available to share more information and answer questions.

Sample Town Hall Agenda:

Make sure there is a notetaker to document questions and answers during the public meeting. A verbatim transcript is not necessary. Prepare a summary of the public meeting to share back out. See the Awareness and Information Sharing section for ideas on how to share information with the public.

Community Events

It is useful to “meet people where they are.” This means going to places where people gather in your community. Consider churches, schools, recreation centers, and coffee shops. Also think about festivals, races, farmer’s markets, and other special events in the community. Events at schools and recreation centers are helpful for families with children. Activities can include parents and children. Younger community members can also engage through classroom projects or field trips. For families, hold meetings at varying times to accommodate busy schedules.

Sending volunteers to make personal contact is an effective strategy. This is helpful for people who can’t get to events such as the elderly or disabled. Identify groups that you want to make sure to engage. Reference the Stakeholder Identification section in the Steering Committee Guidance tool for more information on this process. Is there a volunteer from that group who can make personal contacts? Trust is a key ingredient in getting input from the community.

Technology is another way to “meet people where they are”. Using technology for community engagement should complement other approaches. There are many tools for engaging the public on the internet. Mapping, surveys, Facebook, and platforms or websites to share past meetings and solicit feedback.

Make sure to document questions, ideas, and feedback received from the public during community events. It is also helpful to document the number of people talked to. Technology platforms typically have a comment section that can capture questions and feedback.

Visioning

Visioning is identifying what you want to happen in the future. A vision workshop is a process for gathering ideas about the future from many people. But visioning includes other pieces of the recreation plan process:

• Existing conditions assessment
• Stakeholder information
• Public outreach input

All of the information is compiled and analyzed, as outlined in this tool's Public Input Review section. Then the steering committee develops a vision framework. See the downloadable Vision Workshop Template for additional information. The final step is to get feedback from stakeholders and the public, as outlined in this tool's Share Results section.

Vision Workshop

A vision workshop gives community members a chance to share their ideas about recreation and tourism. A workshop is an interactive public meeting. The focus of a vision workshop is on imagining the future for recreation. It also includes identifying strategies for implementing the vision framework.

See the downloadable Vision Workshop Template for resources to host a vision workshop. Make sure to take photos of all posters, maps, sticky notes and other tools used during the vision workshop.

Public Input Review

Reviewing and summarizing public input is just as important as collecting it. The input should be reviewed individually and together. This review allows the steering commitee to understand different perspectives from the community.

Most of the public input will be written. Make sure the type up any handwritten comments or meeting notes. If paper surveys are used, these will also need to be moved to a digital format. Results from digital surveys are available in spreadsheets.

AI tools such as ChatGPT are a way to quickly summarize large amounts of content. Many document programs such as Google docs or Microsoft Word now also have AI summary options. Having good prompts is key when using AI tools.

Tips for AI Prompts:

• Specify the type of summary
  • Executive summary
  • Themes summary
  • Key Points summary
• Specify the output
  • Paragraphs
  • Bullet points
  • Table (include column names)
• Provide context
  • Audience
  • Level of detail
  • Recommendations

Example prompts:

• Summarize the document as bulleted list of 5 themes for recreation and tourism in <community name>. Include examples for each theme. Identify three recommendations for the steering committee to consider.
• Write a one paragraph executive summary of the document.
• Based on the survey data, what are the top 3 recommendations for improving recreation and tourism in <community name>.

Summarizing the results from the vision workshop is a bit different. The results are captured on posters, maps, and sticky notes. The results should be generally described. The photos taken at the workshop will also be helpful for steering committee members to review. It may be helpful to transcribe sticky notes and written comments into a document for creating a summary.

Once each type of public input is summarized, use AI tools to create a comprehensive summary of all of the input. The steering committee should review and discuss.

Develop Vision and Goals

The vision and goals are based on all of the stakeholder and public input. It also includes the steering committee's ideas and perspectives. The vision describes the desired future recreation and tourism amenities for the community. Goals are specific ways to achieve the vision.

Use the Visioning Results Template to document the process for developing the vision. It includes:

• Project purpose
• Public input summary and themes
• Survey results summary and themes
• Vision workshop summary and themes
• Draft vision statement
• Draft goals

The results of the visioning workshop can be interpreted by the steering committee and turned into actionable strategies. For guidance on transitioning the vision workshop outcomes into community recreation plans, see the Strategy and Planning Templates tool.

Share Results

Sharing the results lets stakeholders and the public know how their input was used. Using the guidance from this tool's Awareness and Information Sharing section, update the website, social media sites, and other places where information is shared publicly. Another public meeting may be useful if the community is used to getting information that way. Tell people how they can provide feedback on the vision and goals, or other products. Share next steps in the process. Continue to update stakeholders and the public throughout the process and implementation.