Communication, Education, and Public Outreach by Leanne Smith Nurse

Leanne Smith Nurse, Program Analyst for the US Environmental Protection Agency National Center for Environmental Innovation, painted a scenario of an environmental cleanup operation presented at a high school and resulting in public confusion and anger because of a lack of communication, education, and public outreach. Participants discussed the best examples of public participation that they were involved with that worked, and described what they felt made it work. Nurse explained the need for public education, and described a grassroots approach rather than top-down method as being a more effective strategy for getting the public involved. She said that an assessment of community needs and of the organization’s capacity to respond should always be conducted. Nurse cautioned that if an assessment is not performed, leaders might miss the important issues and lose the support of key participants. She suggested forming advisory committees to organize communities, and said that trips to neighborhoods who have already implemented proposed developments can be helpful in identifying what citizens want in their community. Finally, Nurse led an exercise dealing with aspects of public involvement, including: facilitation, communications, public relations, mediation, organizational health, and development.  She noted that face to face engagement, online activities, and whole system changes are formulas for successful public involvement.