PARTICIPATION ACROSS TIME
AND DISTANCE
COURSE 304
1
The Tools We Will Explore Today
 Challenges of time and distance to public
participation
 Strategies to address challenges and
minimize impact
2
Challenges of Time and Distance
3
Challenges of Time and Distance
 What is ‘Time and Distance’?
 Some projects last for many years. Therefore the
process of public participation may loose its focus
and it may be difficult to engage the public over a
long period of time.
 Some projects expands over tens of miles. So the
citizens living in distant may have difficulty in public
participation. Moreover, a project can have different
impact on different communities
4
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Elements of effective participation over time and
distance are Ownership: Assign responsibility for managing the
engagement process
 Information: Conspicuous. Sufficient, and in-line with
objectives
 Participation: Identify all stakeholders in project
 Maintain commitments: Manage attention and
motivation as the project cycles through stages
5
Challenges of Time and Distance
Ownership
responsibility
Maintain
commitments
Initiative
Information
Participation
6
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Ownership Responsibility
 Lack of ownership responsibility and lack of contact
with people results in frustration
 Assign ownership for participation throughout the
life of an initiative
Initiative
Readiness
Issues, Interest
& Influences
Discovery
Selection of
Engagement
Level
Integrate
Participation &
Decision
Making Process
Design,
Implementation
& Evaluate
Refer to HEV Module 102 ‘5 Steps of Planning’
7
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Information Information should have following characteristics
 Be available in multiple forms
 Match user skills
 Be clear of message
 Reflect cultural needs
 Be language appropriate
 Occur with a pattern of regularity
8
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Participation
over time-
Participation level may become dormant
during periods of inactivity
Probability of changing participants
Dramatic changes in context may occur
Participants become distant from each
other’s perspective
Maintain contact, as well as establishing
new contacts in challenging
9
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Participation
over distance-
Participation level may mirror fluctuation of
those in closer proximity
Probability remain fairly constant
Context typically reflects that of the
project as whole
Participants are usually distanced from
other perspectives
Participants may have unique
interpretation of purpose & need
10
Challenges of Time and Distance
 Maintaining Commitments Commitments must be made with clear
understanding of the relationship between evolving
context and potential commitment shifts
 Commitments must be documented
 Documents updates should be communicated as
committed
11
Techniques for Overcoming Time and
Distance
 Techniques to overcome challenges of time and
distance






Interactive television
Teleconferencing
Interactive displays and kiosks
Transportation fairs
Games and contests
Project website
12
Techniques for Overcoming Time and
Distance
 Techniques to overcome challenges of time and
distance (cont’d)
 Hotlines
 Drop-in center
 Site visits
Refer to Module 301 for more information on these techniques
13
The Tools We Explored Today
 Challenges of time and distance to public
participation
 Strategies to address challenges and
minimize impact
14
Sources and Resources
 US Department of Transportation
 Public Involvement Techniques for Transportation Decision
Making
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/public_involvement/publications/techniques
/chapter00.cfm
 Smita Rakshit for the Urban and Regional Studies Institute at
Minnesota State University, Mankato
 http://sbs.mnsu.edu/ursi/
15