eCon Planning Suite Citizen Participation and Consultation Toolkit

This toolkit provides strategies for grantees that would like to review and assess existing citizen participation and consultation practices and also provides tools to plan future outreach activities.

The objectives of this toolkit are to help grantees:

• Use the eCon Planning Suite to analyze and communicate housing and community development needs and meet the citizen participation and consultation requirements in the consolidated planning process
• Assess existing citizen participation and consultation efforts and identify strengths and weaknesses to improve future efforts
• Engage stakeholders and the public in developing strategies to address needs and improve and the Consolidated Plan as a whole
• Learn about “Best Practices” in citizen participation and consultation that can be achieved through the use of new technology such as the eCon Planning Suite and other internet-based platforms

View the complete toolkit including desk guide and quick-start guides.

The toolkit includes quick-start guides for 19 activities that can be used to address different citizen participation or consultation priorities. The table below describes the activities, designating which specific citizen participation and consultation objectives (information sharing, data collection, identify priorities, and alignment/coordination) apply to each while also indicating the level of staff engagement and understanding of technology required. To view the description of an individual activity, click the title.

Topic	Staff / Technology Requirement	Citizen Participation	Consultation	Information Sharing	Data Collection	Identify Priorities	Alignment/ Coordination
Facilitate Effective Public Meetings		X		X		X	X
Alternative Methods of Public Notice		X		X
Alternate Language Media Targeting Non-English Pop.		X		X			X
Local Television and Radio		X		X
Email Announcements		X	X	X
Website Publications		X	X	X		X
Social Media		X	X	X	X	X
Web-based Surveys		X	X		X	X	X
Online Forums		X	X		X	X	X
Mapping Community Resources		X	X	X			X
Mapping Stakeholder Locations		X	X	X	X	X	X
Creating Thematic Maps		X	X	X		X	X
Advanced Data Visualization Graphics		X	X	X		X	X
Establish Common Data With Public and Private Partners			X		X		X
State Strategies for Consultation with Local Governments			X			X	X
Coordinating Jurisdiction Staff			X				X
Inventory and Engage other Planning Processes			X			X	X
Collaborate With Private Stakeholders			X	X	X		X
Topic-Oriented Stakeholder Sessions			X	X	X	X	X

 

Staff Time Burden	Technology Requirement
= Low  = Moderate  = High	= Low  = Moderate  = High