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Public Engagement Tip Sheets, Whitepapers and Reports

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Shorter pieces, often relating to best practices, on specific public engagement topics and challenges.

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What Is Public Engagement and Why Do It?

This publication has information to help local officials better understand how to get residents involved. 

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Principles of Local Government Public Engagement

Ten principles that can serve as helpful indicators of effective and ethical public engagement practices, as well as guide city, county and other local officials in the design of public engagement processes and strategies.

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Three Orientations of Local Government Public Engagement: Passive – Active – Sustaining

A tip sheet to help local officials and their communities consider strategies to develop and sustain a capacity for public engagement as a part of local governance.

Three Orientations of Local Government to Public Engagement

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Planning Public Engagement: Key Questions for Local Officials

Key questions for local officials to ask to increase the appropriateness and effectiveness of their public engagement efforts.

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Beyond the Usuals: Ideas to Encourage Broader Public Involvement in Your Community

Local officials often find that only a relatively small number of community members actually take part in public conversations and forums.  A failure to involve a cross-section of residents limits the effectiveness of these public engagement efforts and negatively impacts the breadth and quality of ideas contributed. It can also reduce community support for the final decisions. This publication provides ten essential strategies to extend participation and increase the views and voices in a community’s public engagement activities.

Beyond the Usuals: Ideas to Encourage Broader Public Involvement in Your Community

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Ten Ideas to Encourage Immigrant Engagement
A Tipsheet for Local Officials

A tip sheet that provides ideas drawn from cities and counties throughout California on ways to more successfully engage immigrant residents.

Ten Ideas to Encourage Immigrant Engagement

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Deeply Held Concerns and Other Challenges to Public Engagement Processes

This tip sheet offers ideas for the planning and delivery of public engagement activities when participants’ deeply held views and values make successful outcomes more of a challenge. Public engagement processes are often forums for very deeply held concerns. In some cases, public engagement participants will have very strongly held views about the topics to be discussed; the local (or regional) agency and officials involved; and/or the public engagement process itself. This resource provides tips for overcoming these challenges. 

Dealing with Deeply Held Concerns and Other Challenges to Public Engagement Processes

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Working Effectively with Public Engagement Consultants: Tips for Local Officials

This tip sheet offers recommendations to help guide local officials in the best use of public engagement consultants.

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Language Access Laws and Legal Issues: A Local Official’s Guide

The Language Access Guide explains the laws that require language access to ensure that limited English-proficient residents have access to public services and an opportunity to participate in public life.

Language Access Laws and Legal Issues: A Local Official's Guide

The Language Access Checklists are a companion to the guide, which include: tips on providing language access; conducting a self-assessment; implementing an ordinance; implementing best practices with no ordinance and addressing common challenges. 

Language Access Checklists

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Measuring the Success of Local Public Engagement

You’ve devoted time, money and staff (and maybe consultant resources) to a public engagement effort about an important local plan, issue or policy. But so what?  Here are questions to help guide a communities’ evaluation of its public engagement efforts.

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Assessing Public Engagement Effectiveness: Rapid Review Worksheets

Comparison Worksheet CLocal officials are increasingly using a wide range of public engagement strategies to help them inform, consult with and deliberatively engage residents on topics such as land use, budgeting, housing, sustainability, health and environment, public safety and much more.

While there is a growing body of literature and experience about how to engage the public, there are few practical tools to gauge the success of these approaches. Recognizing that local officials and staff have limited time and resources, the Institute for Local Government has created these online Rapid Review Worksheets to help local governments assess how well their public engagement processes worked.

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Eleven Tips to Improve Public Engagement on Realignment Issues

An important part of the success of the Public Safety Realignment Act is an informed, engaged and supportive public.

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Connecting the Next Generation with Local Agency Careers

This is the fourth in a series of briefing papers for youth commissions and councils offered by ILG. These briefing papers provide background information and ideas related to topics of concern to young people and their communities.

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Youth Engagement and Local Planning: Ideas for Youth Commissions

“Youth Engagement and Local Planning: Ideas for Youth Commissions,” the third in a series of Briefing Papers for youth commissions and councils, describes how youth can become involved in local community planning.

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Addressing Climate Change: Ideas for Youth Commissions

This is the second in a series of Briefing Papers for youth commissions and councils that provide background information and ideas for commission member activities and actions on topics of concern to youth and their communities.

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Name Your Networks

Many public officials have a wide variety of relationships in their communities, often related to specific projects and initiatives. Examples include with students and schools, groups serving specific populations and more. Yet these groups and networks may not be on the top of one’s mind when announcing public meetings. This paper can help you identify different partners, network contacts and “key connectors” in your city or county when planning outreach for your next public meeting.

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