Meaningful public involvement is essential to developing and implementing effective projects, for both the private and public sectors. It is particularly important for the public sector, given increasing demand to consider stakeholder input on projects at all levels of government and especially on federal projects that must satisfy National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements.
Our expertise in public process facilitation meets this growing demand and sets Confluence Collaborative apart from other regional public relations firms. Our approach is designed to meet public involvement requirements, establish and maintain legitimacy of the client’s process, and, most importantly, produce effective, two-way communication to develop and implement better solutions.
For any given public process facilitation project, we conduct comprehensive analyses to identify primary stakeholders and the best methods for reaching them. We then work with the client to implement a strategic communications program to engage those stakeholders. More specifically, a comprehensive public process facilitation project generally will include the following components (Confluence Collaborative also specializes in each of these services on a standalone basis):
- Comprehensive stakeholder analysis and outreach program
- Meeting facilitation services, including capturing feedback and meeting outcomes or client use
- Web-based, printed, in-person, and/or other survey services
- Strategic communications program to communicate the client’s purpose while soliciting meaningful public input
- Identification of key issues and development of strategies to address them