The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is proud to launch the “Public Participation Guide“, an international public participation toolkit. It is a resource for agencies and organizations to help develop, plan for, and implement programs that engage the public in environmental decision-making.
U.S.EPA has worked on developing this guide since 2009, initially for use in the Middle East and North Africa, but with potential for global application. It has now been introduced to regions and countries around the world.
The guide was developed to help those who must manage processes where public input is important to decision-making, and to educate them on the importance of public participation. It is organized to provide basic information and ideas, best practices, tools and techniques, case studies, as well as useful links to more content on the Internet. The Public Participation Guide is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, and Arabic.
Toolkit sections include:
- Introduction to the Public Participation Toolkit
- Introduction to Public Participation
- Public Participation Situation Assessments
- Selecting the Right Level of Public Participation
- Public Participation Process Design
- Public Participation Tools
- Public Participation Foundational Skills, Knowledge, and Behaviors
- Public Participation Resources
Resource Link: www.epa.gov/international/public-participation-guide
I wonder if there’s some application for this for the Open Government Partnership?
Good thought — I imagine there are LOTS of applications potentially. Are you involved in the open gov partnership, Josh?
I’m involved as one of the members of the networking mechanism – the private industry that is servicing the needs of the OGP countries. We were also invited to attend the annual meeting in Brazil next month. Still deciding on that. I’m more than happy to share your work with the working team of OGP – do you want an intro?