2023 IAP2 International Chair, Rachel Fox congratulates the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and regional affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

These award winners represent best practice in our field and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism, and impact of our field of expertise.

Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by IAP2 Regions in Australasia, Canada, United States and Southern Africa.

Winners recognized this year are:

IAP2 International Project of the Year

City of Vancouver (Canada)

For the entry: Sea2City Design Challenge

The Sea2City Design Challenge (Sea2City) was a groundbreaking 12-month collaborative planning and design competition that aimed to reimagine Vancouver's False Creek shoreline in response to rising sea levels, urban development, ecological revitalization, and decolonization and reconciliation with Host Nations. Led by the City of Vancouver, the project brought together multi-disciplinary design teams, government representatives, coastal adaptation experts, and Indigenous knowledge keepers and designers, marking the first time in Canada that a competition model was used for such a planning and adaptation initiative.

Learn More at https://www.vancouver.ca/sea2city

The following received Honourable Mentions in the category:

• Brisbane Metro project, submitted by Brisbane City Council, Australia
• N2 Wild Coast Toll Road development, submitted by Zutari, South Africa
• Honoring Cultural Diversity and Connecting Communities: San Francisco's Central Subway, submitted by San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA), USA

IAP2 International Organisation of the Year

Wannon Water (Australia)

In 2017, with support from expert consultants, Wannon Water developed a new Community Engagement Framework. It is based on best practice engagement principles, including the IAP2 Core Values, and reflects their pride in the role they play within the region. At its heart is a strong commitment to meaningful and genuine engagement across all levels of the organisation, and to providing greater opportunities for community engagement in their region. From this, their definition of community engagement was born – a genuine process of working with people to build capacity, strengthen relationships and inform decisions.

Learn More at https://www.wannonwater.com.au/

The following received an Honourable Mention in the category:

• City of Pittsburgh, USA

IAP2 International Research Award

Moreton Bay Regional Council

For their entry: Moreton Says: Hearing the missing voices

Moreton Says is a comprehensive longitudinal survey series of community sentiment, issues and priorities delivered by Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC). It has fundamentally changed the way MBRC plans and delivers its services by providing an evidence base for community-centric decision making. The program incorporates a complex social licence model and best practice engagement program designed to ensure communities can - and do - influence Council decision-making.

Learn More at https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/

IAP2 Members at Large Winner – Project of the Year

This program is open to IAP2 members who reside outside regional boundaries and from regions where there is not an awards program. IAP2 received entries from South Africa in the Project of the Year category.

Zutari

For their entry: N2 Wild Coast Toll Road development

The Zutari Consortium was appointed by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) to carry out the design and oversee construction of the national route and associated access roads in Package 4 of the 7 – package N2 Wild Coast Road development. The Consortium partnered with Africa!Ignite and Wild Coast Foods to implement the SANRAL Legacy Programme – focused on empowering communities in the vicinity of package 4.

The road construction project is, and will be, a major employer. However, the jobs that will be created cannot adequately address the needs and aspirations of job seekers in the area. In response, the Legacy Programme was created to maximise the long-term impact of the project and address unemployment.

Learn more at https://www.zutari.com/

The following received an Honourable Mention in the category:

• Digital Addressing of Informal Settlements in South Africa, by Planact, South Africa

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members, Rachel Fox, IAP2 International Board Member (Jury Convener), Grace Henty, Far North District Council, New Zealand, Core Values Awards – Project of the Year winner in 2022, Marta Bristow, previously of Conference Board of Canada, Canada, Core Values Awards – 2022 Research Project of the Year winner, and Adriene Wright, IAP2 International Board Member, as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Regional and Members at Large Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

IAP2 International Chair, Bruce Gilbert congratulates the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and regional affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

These award winners represent best practice in our field and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism, and impact of our field of expertise.

Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by IAP2 Regions in Australasia, Canada, and United States.

Winners recognized this year are:

IAP2 International Project of the Year

Far North District Council, New Zealand

Te Hiku Revitalisation

When central government COVID Recovery funding became available, Far North District Council, the Kaitaia Business Association and the five local iwi submitted a combined package of 81 separate initiatives, known collectively as the Te Hiku o te Ika Revitalisation Project. The $7m scope of work ranges from open space development and playground and pump track installations to shared paths, streetscaping and cultural art.

Empowerment, collaboration and communication nurture the relationships that form the heart of this initiative. Key outcomes that show the impact of engagement are:

• Community connection to the revitalised townships; this is their history and their ideas come to life. The heart and soul that went into the initiatives has won Kaitaia the title of New Zealand’s Most Beautiful Town 2021.

• Legacy of community resilience and future opportunities; 45 local businesses have been upskilled and will qualify to work for council beyond this project. Sixty-nine individuals have been trained in industry-recognised safety courses. We have increased safety at work, enhanced employment opportunities and increased community resilience.

• Targeted spend within the community; 88% of expenditure we can influence has been spent in the Far North, 47% has gone to Māori businesses.

Learn More

IAP2 International Research Award

Conference Board of Canada

Empowering Communities to Monitor Major Projects in Impact Assessments

Meaningful community engagement is a core aspect of the Canadian federal government’s Impact Assessment process for major projects. But measuring the success of that engagement and sustaining it over time is challenging. Expectations are also rising for industrial development to be sustainable. This research project aimed to develop a Playbook to guide more effective community engagement planning. Specifically, asked: what indicators could define the engagement process, measure its progress, and link projects to local and national climate action goals?

The Playbook, its guidance, and its indicators, were developed through an iterative and participatory research process led by a research team, Colin Brown, Marta Bristow, Gillian Kerr, and Twiladawn Stonefish, from May 2021 to February 2022.

Learn More

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members – Bruce Gilbert, IAP2 International Chair, Elodie Jacquet, Simon Fraser University, 2021 research award winner, and Jennifer Kaye, Level Crossing Removal Project, 2021 project of the year award winner - as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Affiliate Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

2021 IAP2 International Chair, Kylie Cochrane congratulates the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and regional affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

These award winners represent best practice in our field and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism, and impact of our field of expertise.

Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by IAP2 Regions in Australasia, Canada, and United States.

Winners recognized this year are:

IAP2 International Project of the Year

Argyle (Canada)

For the entry: Sixties Scoop Foundation Engagement Process

In 2018, the court approved a settlement between the Canadian government and Survivors of the 60’s Scoop, where Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families and put into non-Indigenous care. One outcome of the settlement was the provision of $50 million to establish a Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation (SSHF) for Survivors. While the SSHF had been incorporated and an interim board of directors appointed, its focus, governance, and mandate were not yet determined. The Interim Board acknowledged that serving survivors meant earning their trust through authentic engagement. By focusing on Survivors and creating a culturally safe and trauma-informed environment, the team captured the voices of hundreds of survivors. Their input led to seven foundational recommendations that informed the direction of the SSHF.

Learn More at https://www.nationalhealingfoundation.com

IAP2 International Organisation of the Year

Victoria State Government (Australia)

For their entry – Level Crossing Removal Project

Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) was established by the Victorian Government to oversee one of the largest rail infrastructure projects in the state's history. We have the challenging task of removing 75 level crossings across metropolitan Melbourne by 2025. The project is improving safety, reducing congestion, improving travel time reliability, and enabling more trains to run on Melbourne’s congested network. As of April 2021, 46 level crossings have been removed and 23 new stations completed. Our vision at the LXRP is ‘Delivering Great Change – Transforming the way Victorians live, work and travel’. This is underpinned by five strategic objectives, or the ‘five greats’ as they are known within our organisation. ‘Great engagement’ is one of our objectives and given the size and scale of our delivery program, we have seized this as an opportunity to be trailblazers in infrastructure engagement.

Learn More at https://levelcrossings.vic.gov.au

IAP2 International Research Award

Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue

For their entry: Beyond Inclusion: Equity in Public Engagement

Public participation initiatives often struggle to draw participants who truly represent the demographic, attitudinal and experiential diversity of the communities impacted by a decision. Engagement processes that fail to address these barriers and systemic inequities may cause more harm than good. What would it take to move beyond inclusion and towards a practice of equity—sharing power so that communities and leaders may collaborate throughout the planning, implementation, and follow-up of an engagement in order to genuinely co-create solutions?

Learn More at https://www.sfu.ca/dialogue/beyond-inclusion.html

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members, Rachel Fox, IAP2 International Board Member (Jury Convener), Sara Dechter, CP3, AICP, Comprehensive Planning Manager, City of Flagstaff, AZ, Core Values Awards – Project of the Year winner in 2020, and Geoff Wilson, MPA, Director Public Engagement & Community Health Board Support, Nova Scotia Health Authority, Core Values Awards – Organisation of the Year winner in 2020, as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Regional Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

The IAP2 Core Values Awards Program delivers great value for IAP2 Members, individual practitioners and the greater P2 community by enabling you to:

Gain Recognition

The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results. Winners are showcased on the IAP2 website, in the Showcase of Award Winners publication, and at the annual IAP2 conferences in North America and Australasia.

Be Judged by Your Peers

Core Values Awards are judged by your P2 colleagues, who understand the challenges, opportunities and rewards inherent in public participation; value creativity and innovation; appreciate the complex demands of various environments and recognize the role of practitioners in enhancing the quality and reputations of organisations.

Build the Profession and Benchmark Excellence

Award-winning programs epitomize the profession’s best practices. They not only provide great value to their institutions but also contribute to the advancement of the practice overall. As such, they help nurture our profession’s deeply rooted culture of sharing, collegiality and cooperation. 

Strengthen Credibility

The Core Values Awards celebrates programs that measure up to high standards, contribute to a growing body of knowledge and add substance and insight to the profession and its practitioners.

Entries are due 31 July 2021

For Information and Submission Guidelines (pdf)

December 2020 (Denver, CO USA) The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) is pleased to announce the 2020 International Core Values Awards honoring award winners from around.

IAP2 International Chair, Kylie Cochrane congratulates the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and regional affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

These award winners represent best practice in our field and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism and impact of our field of expertise.

Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by IAP2 Regions in Australasia, Canada, and United States.

Winners recognized this year are:

IAP2 International Project of the Year

City of Flagstaff, AZ and Southside Community Association (USA)
For the entry: Embracing Our Heritage; Enhancing Our Future: The Southside Community Specific Plan

The City of Flagstaff, AZ and Southside Community Association for Embracing Our Heritage; Enhancing Our Future: The Southside Community Specific Plan. The Southside is a culturally diverse and historic neighborhood in central Flagstaff that has been experiencing renewed development pressure. The City and community association built a process that leveraged partnerships and storytelling to addressed difficult historic topics, while helping the community look forward. Staff and volunteers focused on creating numerous meaningful small opportunities, many of them “on-the-street," to gain insight and understanding into the community’s view of history and the City government. The suite of creative public participation methods and continual re-evaluation and adjustment of the process has rebuilt community trust and relationships. The Plan’s adoption was delayed by the COVID-19 emergency.

Read More

We are pleased to recognize two additional entries with a Highly Commended award in the International Project of the Year category:

• The City of Guelph (Canada) for their entry “A United Vision: Guelph's Community Plan”
• The City of Sydney (Australia) for their entry “Planning for 2050”
  
  

IAP2 International Organisation of the Year

Nova Scotia Health Authority (Canada)
For their entry – Evolving the Culture of Engagement in Nova Scotia Health Authority

Nova Scotia Health Authority’s journey to embed patient and public engagement (PPE) within its organizational culture is a story of evolution. Tools and processes, plans and checklists, guides and training are the outward and visible trappings of an organization which practices engagement. These alone are not sufficient to lay claim to a culture of engagement. How an organization confronts the many challenges of public engagement, and how it adheres to the fundamental principles of excellence in public participation practice demonstrated in the IAP2 Core Values are the true indicators of how or whether an organization is building a culture of engagement. Evolution is not a linear process. It’s a journey through time replete with successes, failures, leaps forward, and setbacks. Our evolution is a story of perseverance not perfection, and intention to build a strong and enduring organizational culture of engagement founded on the Core Values.

Read More

Core Values Awards Showcase
Please join us in congratulating all the finalists and winners. More details and highlights of all finalists and winners can be found in the 2020 Core Values Awards Showcase on IAP2.org. As you read through the summaries of the award winners and finalists presented here, we hope you will gain some valuable insights into how IAP2 Core Values are being applied to the practice around the world.

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members, Kylie Cochrane, IAP2 International Chair (Jury Convener), Sarah Huntley, Director of Communication and Engagement at City of Boulder, Core Values Awards – Organisation of the Year winner in 2019, Francesca (Patricolo) Jones, City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, Core Values Awards – Project of the Year co-winner in 2019 and member of International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) USA Board of Directors, and Amelia Visagie, South Africa Manager of Communication and Stakeholder Engagement at Zutari, Johannesburg, South Africa and member of the IAP2 Southern Africa Board, as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Regional Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

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Honouring Models of Excellence, Contributions
and Progress Within the Practice of P2

The IAP2 Core Values Awards Program delivers great value for IAP2 International Associate members, individual practitioners and the greater P2 community by enabling you to:

Gain Recognition

The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results. Winners are showcased on the IAP2 website, in the Showcase of Award Winners publication, and at the annual IAP2 conferences in North America and Australasia.

Be Judged by Your Peers

Core Values Awards are judged by your P2 colleagues, who understand the challenges, opportunities and rewards inherent in public participation; value creativity and innovation; appreciate the complex demands of various environments and recognize the role of practitioners in enhancing the quality and reputations of organisations.

Build the Profession and Benchmark Excellence

Award-winning programs epitomize the profession’s best practices. They not only provide great value to their institutions but also contribute to the advancement of the practice overall. As such, they help nurture our profession’s deeply rooted culture of sharing, collegiality and cooperation. 

Strengthen Credibility

The Core Values Awards celebrates programs that measure up to high standards, contribute to a growing body of knowledge and add substance and insight to the profession and its practitioners.

Entries are due 31 July 2020

For Information and Submission Guidelines (pdf)

Francesca Patricolo (PBOT), Gwen Howard, Tina Geiselbrecht, IAP2 USA

Portland (Oregon) Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) for “PedPDX”. Facilities for pedestrians and people with mobility devices vary drastically from one neighborhood to another in Portland, so PBOT launched this process to engage people to come up with solutions. The process included one-on-one interviews, open houses, online engagement and a series of videos, “Pedestrian Stories”. The information gathered will help PBOT prioritize its resource allocation.

What the judges said:

• “Appreciate that you used an approach aimed to elevate the public discourse about the range and diversity of needs that Portlanders have when it comes to walking. Exceptional array of methods for engagement.”
• “Good modifications as you learned more needs, e.g. People with disabilities, African American communities.”

Read the full submission

Brisbane is changing. New industries, new jobs, new technologies and new export relationships are creating a new world of opportunity for Brisbane. Meanwhile changes in demographics, climate, and transport will change the way we live day-to-day.

Brisbane is also growing. The South East Queensland Regional Plan 2017 predicts the population will increase by 386,000 people by 2041 and that there will be a need to accommodate an additional 188,000 dwellings in this time.

Plan your Brisbane was an important citywide conversation with the community, initiated by Brisbane City Council (Council), about a broad range of issues, priorities and opportunities for this growing city. The engagement process was focused on how to develop a community-based Charter of Principles (the Charter) and ideas that would guide and shape the city's future.

Read the full submission

Brenda Ritenour, Sarah Huntley, Ryan Hanschen, Cyndi Pasma, Lydia Reinig, Laurel Olson-Horan, Jesus Salazar

The City of Boulder, Colorado, for “Creating a Meaningful and Inclusive P2 Culture”. City council members and staff had long been aware that an engaged public leads to better decision-making, but in 2016, they started to hear from the people of Boulder that it wasn't enough. So the city launched an 18-month consultation process with residents to see where it could be improved.

What the judges said:

• “Very impressed with what [the city] has done … the commitment to the ‘four pillars’” 
  
• “Well on its way to being a good example to other local governments. It has the WOW factor with the potential to impact other local governments.”

Read the full submission

Dr Bruce Brown

Engagement processes can be complex or simple, use the latest tools and techniques or tried-and-true methods; but how well do they work?

PRR set out to find ways of quantifying “effectiveness” in public engagement from the point of view of both the public and the public involvement agency. After reviewing over a thousand documents, PRR identified indicators for success, developed means for measuring those indicators, and tested their work on three major transportation projects. In the course of the project, areas of improvement in public engagement strategy were identified in each of those three transportation projects. The result is a survey that can be made available online or in hard-copy form for the public and as an online survey for the public involvement agency. The toolkit also includes an Excel scoring tool and guidelines for administering and scoring the survey.

Read the full submission

Ivanplats Mine – Benoga Community Trust, Sustainable Livelihoods through Asset Mapping

Ivanplats is an international platinum mine. As part of its community outreach, Ivanplats established an umbrella trust for community projects. The Bonega trust runs in partnership with 20 communities that surround Ivanplats’ mining operations in Mokopane Limpopo.

Community development in South Africa faces a variety of challenges. Historically, companies have rolled out projects without community consultation and have not succeeded at promoting sustainable development. Since communities are not properly consulted the projects are not what the community actually needs, they are what companies think the community needs. This leads to projects being abandoned or having no meaningful impact.

Aurecon’s Communication and Stakeholder Engagement team was chosen by Ivanplats and Bonega trust to facilitate a process of project identification within 20 affected communities for community benefit, for funding by the trust.

Aurecon’s method of engagement ensured that those most affected by mining operations were intimately involved in the decision-making process. Success was, in part, due to following correct protocol regarding how the community preferred to be engaged within the unique South African context as well as the groundbreaking Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) method.

Read the full submission

IAP2 International Project of the Year

IAP2 is very pleased to recognize two outstanding entries as Project of the Year.

Brisbane City Council, Australia
For the entry “Plan your Brisbane”

Brisbane City Council’s “Plan your Brisbane” was an innovative community engagement program about the future of Brisbane and how the city will accommodate 386,000 more residents by 2041.

The largest planning engagement exercise conducted by a local government in Australia, “Plan your Brisbane” was part of Council’s commitment to develop a community-led charter of principles that would guide the city’s future.

Involving more than 277,000 interactions and generating more than 100,000 contributions, “Plan your Brisbane” reached residents from every suburb in the Brisbane local government area from September 2017 to April 2018. One in five households participated in the citywide conversation about Brisbane’s future.

Read More

PBOT: City of Portland Bureau of Transportation, USA
For the entry “PedPDX: Portland’s Citywide Pedestrian Plan”

With limited resources and unlimited needs, what is a proactive, programmatic approach the City of Portland should use to address the most important pedestrian infrastructure needs first? 

Portland’s population is growing and needs to meet the livability needs of the community. Despite the City of Portland’s consistent investment in the pedestrian network over the last 20 years, significant gaps and shortcomings remain. The framing of PedPDX was established through consultation with the City of Portland Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Portland Commission on Disabilities. This plan is uniquely, deeply shaped in every way by the public, from the core of the framework, to Neighborhood Walkways in the Priority Pedestrian Network, to the implementing strategies developed by the community. The lasting impacts are estimated to be high, including increased transportation funding that will be dedicated to implementing community priorities.

Read More

IAP2 International Organisation of the Year

City of Boulder, Colorado USA
For the entry – Boulder: Creating a Meaningful & Inclusive P2 Culture

Most of the time, the organization of the year award has gone to recipients who have more recently taken up the challenge of being authentically responsive to their community and who have explicitly used the IAP2 Core Values to reach that goal. But what about more mature programs where IAP2 concepts and language are already well-understood by both the organization and its stakeholders? What happens when a more mature organization is told it may have become complacent and is falling short? 

The City of Boulder provides a valuable lesson in how to receive and respond to that community feedback in a sincere, robust, non-defensive way to honor and deepen its established commitment to IAP2’s Core Values.

We recognize the City of Boulder for the following outstanding achievements:

The unfettered, intensive and collaborative response by the city leadership resulted in all three elements of the process becoming empowered – the city employees, the team and the residents. 

The local knowledge and energy of the citizenry was harnessed and embraced in a constructively inclusive collaboration of process and context required to meet the challenges facing the city.

Read More

IAP2 International Research Award

Research is critically important to IAP2 and its members if we are to understand and overcome challenges in everyday public participation and build upon P2 theory and practice. The Research Award acknowledges important contributions to the body of public participation knowledge.

PRR, Inc., USA 
For the entry “Measuring Public Involvement Effectiveness: An Easy to Use Toolkit”

While there are widespread resources for how to best conduct public involvement, there are few practical or validated methods to gauge the effectiveness. This research addressed this gap by developing rigorously tested surveys and scoring tools that agencies can use to measure the effectiveness of their public involvement from both the public’s and the agency’s perspectives.

A team of research and public involvement experts developed a toolkit for evaluating the effectiveness of public involvement and tested it on three major transportation projects. The Public Involvement Effectiveness Measurement toolkit enables agency professionals to track performance throughout the project lifecycle, identify strengths and weaknesses of public involvement activities, and inform decisions about the best way to allocate resources.

Read More

IAP2 Members at Large Winner – Project of the Year

This program is open to IAP2 members who reside outside regional boundaries and from regions where there is not an awards program. IAP2 received entries from South Africa and Kenya in the Project of the Year category.

Aurecon South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
For the entry “Ivanplats- Bonega Trust, Sustainable Livelihoods Through Asset Mapping”

Ivanplats is an international platinum mine. As part of its community outreach, Ivanplats established an umbrella trust for community projects. The Bonega trust runs in partnership with 20 communities that surround Ivanplats’ mining operations in Mokopane Limpopo.

Community development in South Africa faces a variety of challenges. Historically, companies have rolled out projects without community consultation and have not succeeded at promoting sustainable development.

Aurecon’s Communication and Stakeholder Engagement team was chosen by Ivanplats and Bonega trust to facilitate a process of project identification within 20 affected communities for community benefit, for funding by the trust. The team had to create a new approach to bring about much-needed change. The only way selected projects could make a meaningful impact and lead to lasting development was if communities themselves had the primary role in identifying and running projects. The projects had to leverage the strengths and skills that already existed within communities in order to respond to the particular needs therein.

Read More

Core Values Awards Showcase

Please join us in congratulating all the finalists and winners. More details and highlights of all finalists and winners can be found in the 2019 Core Values Awards Showcase  on IAP2.org. As you read through the summaries of the award winners and finalists presented here, we hope you will gain some valuable insights into how IAP2 Core Values are being applied to the practice around the world.

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members, Mr. Jason “Jay” Vincent, IAP2 International deputy chair, Ms. Sarah Azam, IAP2 Core Values Award international project of the year winner in 2018 with New Zealand Transport Agency, Mr. Lewis Michaelson, IAP2 trainer and past president and Mr. Ken Smith, former IAP2 International treasurer, as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Regional Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

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The IAP2 Core Values Awards Program delivers great value for IAP2 International Associate members, individual practitioners and the greater P2 community by enabling you to:

Gain Recognition

The awards acknowledge superior accomplishments that have lasting impact, demonstrate the highest level of professionalism and deliver exceptional results. Winners are showcased on the IAP2 website, in the Showcase of Award Winners publication, and at the annual IAP2 conferences in North America and Australasia.

Be Judged by Your Peers

Core Values Awards are judged by your P2 colleagues, who understand the challenges, opportunities and rewards inherent in public participation; value creativity and innovation; appreciate the complex demands of various environments and recognize the role of practitioners in enhancing the quality and reputations of organisations.

Build the Profession and Benchmark Excellence

Award-winning programs epitomize the profession’s best practices. They not only provide great value to their institutions but also contribute to the advancement of the practice overall. As such, they help nurture our profession’s deeply rooted culture of sharing, collegiality and cooperation. 

Strengthen Credibility

The Core Values Awards celebrates programs that measure up to high standards, contribute to a growing body of knowledge and add substance and insight to the profession and its practitioners.

Entries are due July 31, 2019

More Information and Submission Guidelines (pdf)

Being a Public Participation Practitioner is not for the faint of heart. It requires ingenuity, caring, and dedication.

• Ingenuity in how to engage a diversity of stakeholders and the public in complex and sometimes high-stakes and high-emotion projects, plans and/or processes
• Caring in providing a safe and inclusive space where there is an opportunity to hear from and engage ALL voices including stakeholders, the public, decision-makers and the internal team.
• Dedication to your communities, the P2 practice… and the greater good. Upholding the IAP2 Core Values and the Code of Ethics.

It is TIME for you or your organization to SHINE - so apply for:

• The IAP2 USA Core Values Awards. Each year, IAP2 Affiliates around the world celebrate excellence in the profession through the IAP2 Core Values Awards. The awards go to projects and organizations which best demonstrate IAP2's Core Values and help to raise the bar in the field of public engagement by sharing best practices and inspiring the P2 community to learn from one another. As a friendly competition, the Core Values Awards encourage new approaches and innovative uses of existing ones.
• The IAP2 USA Greater Good Award recognizes excellence achieved by individuals in the field of public participation in the United States. These individuals have been pioneers in the field, and helped shape it to become what it is today.
• The IAP2 USA Greater Good - Emerging Leader Award has been created in recognition of emerging leadership. This award is for people who are under 35 and/or have fewer than five years in the practice and are making a new impact on the public participation profession.

We cannot wait to see what inspiring projects you have been working on, and individuals you have worked with, to create positive change, build trust, and engage your local community in public participation! All applications are due Friday, May 3, 2019.

IAP2 Core Values Awards        IAP2 Greater Good Awards

IAP2 Australasia is excited to announce the flagship awards program, the 2019 IAP2 Core Values Awards, is now open for entry.

IAP2 Australasia’s Core Values Awards recognise and encourage projects and organisations that are at the forefront of public participation. The Awards were created to encourage excellence, quality and innovation in public participation. Embedding the IAP2 Core Values in organisations and projects that demonstrate leading practice is a key focus for the Awards.

In 2018, IAP2 Australasia saw some outstanding projects at the forefront of community and stakeholder engagement in Australasia. (Discover more about the winners by downloading the 2018 Core Values Showcase here and the 2018 IAP2A finalists case studies here.

Will 2019 be your year in the spotlight?

Application for the 2019 Core Value Awards are now open until 26 April 2019.

In 2019, IAP2 International is offering three major Awards. IAP2 Australasia will also award eight Project Categories from which the winner of the Project of the Year will be chosen:

• Planning
• Infrastructure (Planning and Design)
• Infrastructure (Construction)
• Environment
• Health
• Disaster and Emergency Services
• Community Development
• Indigenous

In addition, there will be the opportunity for entrants to be considered for the additional Special Awards:

• Advocating for Engagement Award
• Judges' Encouragement Award
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Award
• Smart Budget Award

To enter, the first step is to download the 2019 Core Values Awards Entrants’ Kit.

IAP2 Australasia is also pleased to announce that this year entries can be submitted online through the IAP2 Australasia SurveyMonkey Apply Portal, making for an easier entry process.

For more information on the IAP2 Australasia 2019 Core Values Awards, please contact Josie Gruber, Marketing Manager at josie@iap2.org.au.

The decision to genuinely empower, collaborate and involve mana whenua, key stakeholders and the community was seen as critical during the design and consenting phase of the $NZ700 million Northern Corridor Improvements project, due to its highly complex impact on a massive population base.

This nationally significant transport project in Auckland, New Zealand is a truly transformative, with investment planned in the full range of travel choices across all modes - vehicles, buses, cyclists and pedestrians. Success would therefore rely on the community supporting and taking up these options. It would also have a significant impact on a huge number of community facilities, reserves, special environmental areas and private properties, due to the heavily urbanised and tightly constrained corridor in which it had to be built.

The NZ Transport Agency and Aurecon NZ team responded to these opportunities and risks by committing to putting public interests “at the heart of all decision-making”, and formalised an engagement strategy and public participation process across all workstreams to help shape the design. This meant all managers were responsible for genuinely consulting with their stakeholders and the community, rather than it only being the role of the Community Engagement team.

The aim was to co-create a sustainable design that would best meet the community’s needs and achieve great environmental outcomes. All planning documents submitted to the project’s national Board of Inquiry (BOI) consent process had to demonstrate public participation outcomes had been considered in their Multi-Criteria Assessment (MCA) tools. Key stakeholder and community challenges were identified upfront, and discipline, extra resource and working groups were put in place to work through them. A rigorous process proposed levels on the IAP2 spectrum for all affected parties, brainstormed ways to engage with them, and asked the participants the best way they’d like to be involved. The goal was to agree resolutions ahead of the consent application, rather than leaving items to be raised in a submission during the official public notification period.

Success was to be measured by the ability to point to evidence of mana whenua, stakeholder and public participation influencing or changing decision making; and satisfaction with the proposed design. By the time of the consent application, the project team was able to proudly say they’d achieved both. Despite its size and the huge population base, there was an incredibly low number of submissions – only 33 in total. Comparable projects in New Zealand normally receive hundreds of submissions. And of those received, approximately 70% of all submissions were in support or partially in support. Only 2 submitters raised issues relating to the public consultation process.

Notably, key stakeholders including local government, road user groups, public transport and cycling groups were all in support. Unanimous support was also received from mana whenua. In the final BOI decision report in late 2017, the independent commissioners who oversaw the process noted:

“...overall the Transport Agency deserves credit for the way in which its consultation programme was designed and implemented. It has gone to considerable effort to engage with the public of Auckland generally and the key stakeholders in particular to inform them of what is proposed. There have been a great many opportunities offered to those potentially affected by the Project to engage with the Transport Agency to discuss matters of concern and, in some cases, to negotiate alterations to the Project. This can be seen particularly with reference to the fact that agreement has been reached with organisations such as Waste Management, Auckland Transport, Bike Auckland, Watercare, Vector, Transpower and Harbour Hockey Charitable Trust, and that the matters which were of concern to the Council are now reduced to one only.”

Read the Application

Public Engagement is complex work. It’s also important work; it’s the primary way that the City of Edmonton works with the public to understand, examine, and make decisions.

Following the 2013 Civic Election, as well as a 2014 City Auditor report on public involvement, City Council and Administration identified a need to review the City of Edmonton’s approach to public participation. Many Edmontonians, stakeholders, Councillors, and members of City Administration observed that the City faced a number of challenges and opportunities in public participation, including responding to evolving citizen expectations, supporting growth, ensuring consistent and quality processes, and capitalizing on opportunities for innovation.

Through a collaborative based process that involved City Council, Administration and Edmontonians, the Council Initiative on Public Engagement (the Initiative) has defined and set the stage for innovative and inclusive public participation practice for years to come.

The Initiative was designed using a phased approach for “engaging on engagement” with City Council, Administration and the public. It was given a broad mandate to examine public participation practices at the City, while also implementing immediate improvements to public participation practice where possible. The initiative recognized that making lasting change to public participation must be part of a larger organizational change at the City. However, a focus on internal change must be balanced by an effort to understand, engage, and enable the city’s broader civil society. Good public participation requires increasing both the capacity of the City and the community to engage.

Most of the public participation challenges centered around internal leadership, who were involved in the Initiative, pushing the City norm on public participation and sticking their neck out to challenge how decisions are made at the City. Traditionally, decisions were made hierarchically with little meaningful public participation involved in decision making. The Initiative was bumping up against that tradition which is often a challenge. Though the work was heavily supported by Council, there was resistance internally for the need of public participation or the Initiative as a whole. Having community contribute to big policy decisions was scary for an organisation that was often used to making those decisions for themselves.

Another challenge was a general lack of trust by residents in City public participation initiatives.  Residents told Council candidates during the 2013 Civic Election that they did not trust that the City used any of the input they provided and that the City did what it wanted to do anyway. Residents felt that public participation at the City was just checking a box and not sincere or meaningful.

Due to the lack of trust residents had in public participation, the Initiative was given the direction by the Council co-leads to “begin at the beginning” and engage with Edmontonians, City staff and community leaders to develop a common understanding of public participation and start to build consensus on what the Initiative and public participation at the City needed to focus its efforts on. Doing “public participation on public participation” was a key part of gaining trust from residents on the process as well as the outcomes of the Initiative. To ensure the outcome of the Initiative worked for all (residents, City staff, stakeholders, Council ext.), all needed to be involved.

Impact of P2 on decisions

The public participation activities undertaken directly impacted the decisions on the direction the Initiative was going to take as well as the final outcomes. Collaboration between Administration, City Council and community was a focus and theme throughout the entire Initiative. That theme continues to impact the way the City practices public participation today.

Other outcomes and impacts on decision making include:

• A Public Engagement Policy which provides direction on engagement at the City and links public engagement to decision making
• A new Public engagement spectrum that removed Inform and included communication to underneath all the roles the public can play when participating
• Public Engagement Framework
• New Public Engagement Practice and Implementation Roadmap
• Creation of a Public Engagement Section at the City with 16 Public Engagement Advisors, a 6- member Corporate Research Unit and a 4-member Methods and Practices Unit
• Outcomes of the working groups
  • Training program for all City staff on public engagement
  • An approach for City staff on evaluation and recognition
    
  • Development of a new public engagement planning tool, a catalogue of techniques and practices as well as a new Communications Guidebook.
  • An internal community leadership database and mapping tool
  • A Guiding Coalition that will monitor the City’s progress in executing the Implementation Road Map for public engagement
  • A Communications Guidebook
• Public Engagement Language Guidelines to standardise how the City talks about public participation
• A Public Engagement section added to each Council Report

Read the Application

24 October 2018 (Gold Coast, Australia) The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) announced the 2018 International Core Values Awards honoring award winners from around the world at the IAP2 Core Values Awards Gala in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

IAP2 Federation International Chair, Ms. Kylie Cochrane congratulated the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and national affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

These award winners represent best practice in our field and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism and impact of our field of expertise.

Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by national affiliates in Australasia, Canada and the United States.

Winners recognized this year are:

IAP2 International Project of the Year

NZ Transport Agency and Aurecon NZ Ltd. For the entry, Northern Corridor Improvements Project – Design Consenting Phase

The decision to genuinely empower, collaborate and involve mana whenua, key stakeholders and the community was seen as critical during the design and consenting phase of the $NZ700 million Northern Corridor Improvements project, due to its highly complex impact on a massive population base.

This nationally significant transport project in Auckland, New Zealand is a truly transformative, with investment planned in the full range of travel choices across all modes - vehicles, buses, cyclists and pedestrians. Success would therefore rely on the community supporting and taking up these options. It would also have a significant impact on a huge number of community facilities, reserves, special environmental areas and private properties, due to the heavily urbanised and tightly constrained corridor in which it had to be built.

The NZ Transport Agency and Aurecon NZ team responded to these opportunities and risks by committing to putting public interests “at the heart of all decision-making”, and formalised an engagement strategy and public participation process across all workstreams to help shape the design.

The award was presented to Donna Marshall (IAP2A Chair), Andrew Douglas (Aurecon NZ), (Aimee Brock, NZ Transport Agency), Carol Greensmith (Aurecon NZ) and Mandi Davidson (IAP2A Deputy Chair)

(Click here for more information)

IAP2 International Organisation of the Year

City of Edmonton, Alberta Canada

For their entry – What happens when a City, Its Residents and its Council Decide it is time for a change

Public Engagement is complex work. It’s also important work; it’s the primary way that the City of Edmonton works with the public to understand, examine, and make decisions.

Following the 2013 Civic Election, as well as a 2014 City Auditor report on public involvement, City Council and Administration identified a need to review the City of Edmonton’s approach to public participation. Many Edmontonians, stakeholders, Councillors, and members of City Administration observed that the City faced a number of challenges and opportunities in public participation, including responding to evolving citizen expectations, supporting growth, ensuring consistent and quality processes, and capitalizing on opportunities for innovation.

Through a collaborative based process that involved City Council, Administration and Edmontonians, the Council Initiative on Public Engagement has defined and set the stage for innovative and inclusive public participation practice for years to come.

The award was presented to City Councillor, Ben Henderson, and Cory Segin, the Director of Public Engagement from the City of Edmonton.

Please join us in congratulating all the finalists and winners. More details and highlights of all finalists and winners can be found in the 2018 Core Values Awards Showcase. As you read through the summaries of the award winners and finalists presented here, we hope you will gain some valuable insights into how IAP2 Core Values are being applied to the practice around the world.

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members – Ms. Sarah Rivest, IAP2 Canada president; Dr. Lydia Prado, IAP2 Core Values Award international project of the year winner in 2017 for Dahlia Campus; Ms. Jan Bloomfield, IAP2 Canada board secretary and IAP2 Trainer; and Ms. Lerato Ratsoenyane, IAP2 Southern Africa board member; – as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Affiliate Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.

(Click here for more information)

It’s time once again to flex your professional muscles for the entire world to see! 

Eligibility
IAP2 International Associates and IAP2 Members from locations where the IAP2 Affiliate does not offer an awards program will be eligible to submit to the Member-at-Large Awards program and the winners are eligible to compete for the international prizes.

IAP2 Affiliates offering Core Values Awards programs in 2018 include IAP2 Australasia, IAP2 Canada, and IAP2 USA. Submissions from those locations are not eligible for the Members-At-Large program. Please refer to those Affiliates for submission information.

For the 2018 Core Values Awards, there are three categories for submissions:

• The Project of the Year award recognizes excellence in the tools, techniques and efforts in public participation within a finite framework.
• The Organization of the Year award recognizes the application of the core values in all aspects of an organization and how they are embedded into decision-making that features public participation.
• Research Award - Research is critically important to IAP2 and its members if we are to understand and overcome challenges in everyday public participation and build upon P2 theory and practice. The Research Award acknowledges important contributions to the body of public participation knowledge.

2017 IAP2 International Core Values Awards Winners

Submissions will be accepted until July 30, 2018.
Entries must be received by email (in either Adobe PDF or MS Word formats)
to Ellen Ernst, IAP2 Executive Manager at operations@iap2.org
by 12:00 midnight Pacific Daylight Time (North America).

Winners will be notified in August for advancement to the IAP2 International Awards.

The following tools and information are available here to assist in developing your submission:

• 2018 Core Values Awards Information Pack
• Review past winners in the Core Values Awards Showcase of Winners
• Entry Fees: Organisation - $100 USD; Individual - $40 USD (email operations@iap2.org to request an invoice)

As always, we are happy to accept entries of the same project in multiple award categories. We do require you to make separate submissions for each category you wish to enter, and that each entry clearly addresses the requirements of the category as outlined in the style guide.

IAP2 International Core Values Awards
The winners from the Affiliate Awards Programs and IAP2 International Member-At-Large Program in the following categories: Project of the Year; Organization of the Year and Research Project of the Year will be judged in September for the International Awards.

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It's with great excitement that IAP2 Australasia kicks off 2018 with the launch of its flagship awards program. The IAP2 Core Values Awards recognise outstanding projects and organisations that are at the forefront of public participation and community engagement. They were created to encourage excellence and innovation in this field.

2017 saw some outstanding projects at the forefront of community engagement in Australasia. 

Will 2018 be your year in the spotlight?

Applications for the 2018 Core Values Awards are now open. Applications will be open until 18 April 2018.

In 2018, IAP2 is offering three major Awards. IAP2 Australasia will also award seven Project Categories Awards from which the winner of Project of the Year will be chosen:

• Planning
• Infrastructure
• Environment
• Health
• Disaster and Emergency Services
• Community Development
• Indigenous

The IAP2 Australasia 2018 Core Values Awards Entrants' Kit is available here

For more information on the 2018 Core Values Awards please contact Josie Gruber, IAP2 Australasia Marketing Manager on josie@iap2.org.au.

 IAP2 Federation International Chair, Ms. Kylie Cochrane congratulated the winners on behalf of the Board of Directors and national affiliates. “IAP2’s seven Core Values go to the very heart of our association and guide how we think about and practice authentic engagement and I’m proud to acknowledge the best of the best.”

 These award winners represent best practice in our field, and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate. Winners and finalists are recognized for their contributions to the field in the areas of indigenous engagement, community development, health, infrastructure, environment, disaster and emergency services as well as for their creativity, innovation and inclusion. This is a testament to the tremendous expansion, professionalism and impact of our field of expertise.

 Finalists for the ’best of the best‘ international awards were gathered from entries submitted by national affiliates in Australasia, Canada and the United States.

Winners recognized this year are:

Project of the Year

The Dahlia Campus for Health and Well-Being

A partnership between the Mental Health Center of Denver and the Northeast Park Hill community, Denver, Colorado (United States)

Facilitating Grassroots Support for a Controversial Construction Project in an Economically Distressed Community of Color

In 2012, the Mental Health Center of Denver (MHCD) purchased the dilapidated Dahlia Square property in the Park Hill Neighborhood. MHCD had served Northeast Park Hill residents for years, but in offices that were difficult to reach via public transportation. MHCD announced their intention to construct a community mental health facility on the site in hopes that a local “footprint” would enhance its capacity to provide wrap-around mental health care for individuals and families of all ages.

Residents of the neighborhood saw things differently, however. According to Dr. Lydia Prado, project lead for the Dahlia campus, “Communities often resist construction of mental health facilities, in response to a strong (but largely unfounded) stigma associated with the work. The team at MHCD had a compelling recognition that the campus would only achieve its full potential if it was closely connected to and supported by local community members.”

Two MHCD leaders took primary responsibility for public outreach: Dr. Lydia Prado and Dr. Forrest Cason. The result of their intense community engagement process was construction of Dahlia’s 4-acre, 46,000-square foot child and family wellness center: the first of its kind in the country. In addition to mental health support for children, families, and teens; the campus offers quality childhood early education, pediatric dental care, deaf and hard of hearing support, access to fresh produce and healthy proteins (through a one-acre urban farm and 5400 square foot aquaponics greenhouse), a teaching kitchen, a multi-purpose community room, and a gymnasium. In its first year of operation, Dahlia served over 4,000 people in its community spaces. Now, 18 months after opening, all of these spaces are booked out until 2018. Staff/resident connections continue to grow, and residents actively partner with staff to offer classes and other programs of local interest and concern. Learn more at mhcd.org/dahlia-campus-for-health-well-being.

Organisation of the Year

 Lake Macquarie City Council (Australia)

Building a culture of shared leadership

Some of the most important and difficult discussions and decisions affecting communities need to happen at a local level. How neighbourhoods will adapt to climate change, how our built environments can become more sustainable and inclusive, and how we can harness new technology and traverse the ‘digital divide’ are just some of the challenges that local councils and their communities face as they look to the future. In 2010, Lake Macquarie City Council implemented a Community Engagement Strategic Guideline based on ten principles closely aligned to the IAP2 Core Values.

This year, Council completed one of the most extensive community engagement programs in its history, Shape Your Future, with a reach of more than 170,000. Although recognised as ground-breaking for both its reach and innovation, Shape Your Future is perhaps more significant because it demonstrates Council’s success in building a culture of shared leadership with its community.

This new statement of vision and values represents strong participation and influence of the community at the core of the City’s strategic planning. It will provide focus and direction for Council’s plans and actions for the coming decade and beyond.  For more information, visit shape.lakemac.com.au.

Please join us in congratulating all the finalists and winners. More details and highlights of all finalists and winners can be found in the 2017 Core Values Awards Showcase on IAP2.org. As you read through the summaries of the award winners and finalists presented here, we hope you will gain some valuable insights into how IAP2 Core Values are being applied to the practice around the world.

Special thanks are extended to the international jury members, Mr. Kyle Bozentko, Jefferson Center (USA), Mr. Timothy Hart, SRK Consulting (South Africa) and Ms. Claire Paddison, LandCorp (Australia), as well as all the members of the judging panels for the IAP2 Affiliate Awards programs. On behalf of IAP2 you have our sincere thanks for your commitment and dedication to advancing and promoting international best practice in the field of public participation.