One day it’s about saving the parks from the through road and the next day it’s local complaints about child care. Now businesses are being asked to be “good neighbours” and clean up their own back yards. Activists and other concerned citizens are expecting high levels of accountability from government officials and employees and are beginning to look more closely at the operations of business and industry. Often, the public relations approaches what worked in the past are falling on deaf ears. Communities want to know that they can trust business. And business needs to demonstrate that they are trustworthy. Some communities are asking to work in partnership with government and business. For some businesses, this language is completely foreign.
In the midst of this volatile mix is the risk management expert, often advising that it’d be better to keep the plans secret and manage negative community responses if the news gets out. What often happens with this approach is that eventually communities come to expect betrayal and then the task becomes one of dealing with the expectation of betrayal.
While some businesses are turning away from the challenge of becoming good neighbours and engaging with local communities, others are finding that openness and building trust can have remarkable benefits – for all concerned. Sometimes sensitive community engagement processes can actually heal old wounds and open people up to greater community possibilities than they ever imagined.
It is widely accepted now that the key to maintaining democracy in unstable times is an engaged citizenry. As Australia’s social, environmental and political issues become more diverse and complex, being a citizen will mean more than just showing up on Election Day. Engaged communities give their opinions on issues from the beginning and they expect to be listened to. But who facilitates this process and how?
Dr Wendy Sarkissian’s stories and strategic advice are based on professional work in a wide variety of urban and rural contexts: from sensitive negotiations in Redfern over the design of a local community centre to “rescue missions” for failed development projects, one of which was completely shelved as a result of citizen action.
This is an opportunity to find out from an expert how to engage communities on any issue – no matter how volatile – without compromising ecological, social, financial, professional or political integrity. Learn about leading practice and innovative processes that are guaranteed to yield actionable results so that projects can proceed without delay. |
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