Those engaged in multi-stakeholder consultations are faced with a plethora of potentially useful techniques to promote public involvement through: information sharing, communications, planning, negotiating, consensus building and conflict resolution. Methods continue to proliferate as successive authors invent new language for or fine-tune classical techniques. The consulting fraternity frequently appropriates well-known techniques as proprietary versions with accompanying claims of uniqueness and applicability. The sheer volume of methodological advice provides a practitioner with adequate options to select a suite of practices they believe will apply to a particular situation. Because so much public involvement advisory literature and case histories of successes emphasize the methods employed it is easy to miss the fundamental and underlying principles of effective public involvement. There are a number of engagement principles that are critical, which, if not present, limit the usefulness and potential for successful outcomes, regardless of the methods used. This article: highlights principles and defines keys to assess commitment for public engagement in multistakeholder processes.

Type of Case
Printed publication (book, sourcebook, journal article…)

Publisher
Forest Practices Board of British Columbia

Region
Americas

Biome
Boreal, Temperate

Forest Type
All forest types (natural and planted)

Primary Designated Function
All