March Edition: Empowering Inclusivity and Accessibility to Enhance Public Participation 🎉
Explore Sunshine Coast City Council's Disability Action Plan, learn about Yarra City Council's progress in becoming more inclusive and accessible, discover the selection of languages offered by the City of Burnaby, plus much more!
Showcasing an Inclusion Action Plan
To foster inclusivity for people with disabilities in the region, the Sunshine Coast Council developed an initial Inclusion Action Plan that addresses the specific needs of its community members. In anticipation of drafting this plan, Sunshine Coast actively involved individuals with lived experience of disabilities to ensure their voices were heard and to collaboratively design the development of this plan.
To also help achieve this goal, Sunshine Coast conducted targeted surveys that were completed by 97 individuals, including those with disabilities, caregivers, and individuals working in the disability sector. Additionally, the Council used various visual elements, an easy-to-read English version, and a feature grid that links to YouTube videos, making it easier for residents to access and understand specific information.
Making Yarra More Inclusive and Accessible
Yarra City Council is always looking at ways to make Yarra a more inclusive and accessible place for all. Therefore, Yarra actively sought input from residents for ideas to help Yarra with its Access and Inclusion Strategy.
Yarra ticks all the accessibility boxes by offering both standard and easy-to-read English versions, also striking a good balance between visuals and text to reduce content heaviness. Yarra utilized image options in the Form tool, asking residents about their priorities for people with disabilities. Furthermore, users can explore different sections of the site through linked pages.
Connecting with Community Members
The City of Burnaby is always looking for ways to connect and hear more from its community. By utilizing the translation add-on tool, Burnaby was able to offer up to 10 different types of languages for their engagement site. It carefully selected the most commonly spoken languages at home, with the official language as French!
To gain a deeper insight into its residents, Burnaby employed the Form tool to gather feedback on the effectiveness of its translation tool. Residents were asked questions like "Which language did you use to translate this website?". Through this approach, Burnaby was able to assess the efficacy of its translation services.
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Providing Top Tips to Residents
Nelson City Council rolled out its new ePlan to residents, offering an electronic and interactive version of the Nelson Resource Management Plan in compliance with the National Planning Standards. The ePlan contains the same information that’s in Nelson’s current Resource Management plans. However, it provides a different and easier method to access it. Users can use ePlan as a book by reading it in full or viewing it section by section.
Nelson has ensured that residents know how to use the ePlan by providing the top tips to get the most out of it. This is by showcasing tips that include how to increase text size, use a voice reading tool, open up a pop-up definition window, jump to other sections of the ePlan, view reference links and much more!
Integrating your feedback platform and SRM can improve efficiency and deepen engagement with stakeholders.
When managing significant infrastructure approvals projects, effective project management and community engagement aren't just a matter of convenience—they are a strategic move that can yield substantial benefits. There is now better integration than ever between feedback tools and your SRM (Stakeholder Relationship Management system).
4 Reasons Integration is Pivotal!
1. Building a Robust Engagement Framework | If you’re using stakeholder feedback tools such as Social Pinpoint, it's now possible to channel this input directly into an SRM system. This enables the creation of a dynamic repository of BOTH private stakeholder and public opinion that is both rich in detail and easy to navigate. All your feedback can be classified into issues raised, sentiment, location and timing, providing a picture of how sentiment and the hierarchy of issues changes over time and geography.
2. Fostering a Responsive Environment | The improved connection between feedback tools and SRM tools means that feedback isn’t just collected; it’s acted upon. This responsiveness signals to stakeholders that their input is valued, fostering a deeper level of trust and ongoing engagement. Responding to issues isn’t an optional matter during the approvals process, regulators expect that substantive issues are considered and that evidence of a meaningful response is provided. The connection of feedback tools and SRM help this happen more easily.
3. Streamlining for Success | Time is money. Efficiency is key for your approvals process. The combined power of your engagement platform and your SRM eliminates redundancies, automates workflows, and ensures that no stakeholder is overlooked. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also enhances the quality of interactions. Importantly, speed to action is improved, possibly cutting weeks from your program.
4. Cultivating Community Ties | At the heart of these tools is the ability to strengthen community bonds. By efficiently managing stakeholder data and interactions, project teams can tailor their outreach, building a more trusted relationship between stakeholders and project delivery, enhancing your brand.
In essence, the integration of your engagement platform and SRM is about creating a cohesive ecosystem that values each stakeholder’s contribution. The integration facilitates the ability to respond quickly with a detailed record of your interactions, which means you can show the work you have done when the time arises.
This month’s pinpoint perspectives have been brought to you by Don Sharples, Managing Director for ANZ.
See you in April!
– Social Pinpoint