Engaging the Public for
River Sustainability
Civic Engagement – A Definition
Civic engagement engenders
collective action to identify and
address issues of public concern,
instilling a sense of personal
responsibility to uphold
obligations as part of a
community.
Civic Engagement is not…
• Consensus-building
• Collaboration
• Communication or
• Public advocacy
Rather it collects from and uses
all these forms of engagement.
The Need For A Constituency
Overarching Question –
Who do you represent?
Seven Principles of Civic Engagement
• Careful planning & preparation
• Inclusion & demographic diversity
• Collaboration & shared purpose
• Openness & learning
• Transparency & trust
• Impact & action
• Sustained engagement & participatory culture
Careful Planning and Preparation
• Inclusive oversight
• Data and science
• Factual and values framework
• Common lexicon
Role of Careful Planning and Preparation
• Information authentication
• Trust
• Informed discussion
Inclusion & Demographic Diversity
 Representation of diverse opinion
as much as ethnic or geographic
• Important for voices in the room
• Varying perspectives make new
ideas
• Legitimizes outcomes
Inclusion & Demographic Diversity
 How does this apply to public
policy for rivers and their
communities?
 Discussion
Collaboration & Shared Purpose
• Useful in complex, multi-party issues
• Process to obtain goals that cannot be
reached by one single agent
• Based on principles of local
participation and ownership
• Goal – jointly develop and agree on
common objectives and directions
• Share responsibility
• Work for the achievement of the
agreed-upon items
Collaboration & Shared Purpose
• How does this apply to public
policy for rivers and their
communities?
• Discussion
Shared Purpose – Attitude to Action Continuum
Collaboration & Shared Purpose
• Important in today’s interconnected
society where issues affect diverse
groups with different interests and
perspectives
• Allows future orientation
• Leverages resources
• Fosters exploration of joint gains and
integrative solutions
• Permits stakeholders to deal with
interrelated issues in a single forum
• Shared risk builds trust and minimizes
turf issues
• Avoids duplication
Collaboration & Shared Purpose
• How does this apply to public
policy for rivers and their
communities?
• Discussion
Openness & Learning
• Mindset allows purposeful
collaboration
• Fosters new ideas
• Fosters trust by allowing
questioning
• Allows individual and group
evaluation for on-the-ground
solution/evaluation
Openness & Learning
 How does this apply to public
policy for rivers and their
communities?
 Discussion
Transparency & Trust
• Role of neutral convener/process
in building trust
• Fairly refereed game vs. unfairly
refereed game
• Openness and its relationship to a
participant’s willingness to
contribute
Transparency & Trust
• How does this apply to public
policy for rivers and their
communities?
• Discussion
Impact & Action
• Concrete goal setting
• Agreed-upon measurement
• Public policy – agenda,
constituency, strategy
• Who do you represent?
Sustained Engagement & Participatory Culture
Theo Brown
AmericaSpeaks