Citizen engagement and public participation can be a tough job for local governments.  Face it, our good efforts don't always produce the greatest results, right?

Building a good citizen engagement program requires us to:

1. Determine the appropriate level of engagement for projects, programs or policy development
2. Assess current engagement practices
3. Develop an engagement plan to meet organizational and community needs
4. Match the right public participation tools to your objectives
5. Build organizational capacity to effectively and practically involve your citizens in community decisions
6. Build community capacity for constructive engagement
7. Increase the confidence of  elected and appointed officials to appreciate the full benefit of effective civic engagement
8. Benchmark your programs against best practices in engagement
9. Foster leadership and infrastructure that supports constructive civic engagement.

ICMA's Center for Management Strategies has assembled an "all star team" of engagment practitioners practical research to assist in your efforts.  It also has a free assessment instrument  to assist you in evaluating your readiness and capacity for engagement  in your organization.

CMS also presents quality educational programs and has two upcoming events that may interest you!

                   March 26 ICMA Webinar "Citizen Engagement:  The Top 10 Reasons the Public Gets Left in the Dark" 

                   May 1  Full Day Training Program  in Hoffman Estates Illinois,  "Engaging the Public:  It's More than Three Minutes at the Microphone!"

Your engagement efforts don't have to be hard.  Let the Center for Management Strategies help!