We hope you will join us in extending a huge congratulations to our friends at Healthy Democracy, who were just awarded with the IAP2 2013 International Project of the Year Award for their Citizens’ Initiative Review project, which we recently highlighted on our blog. Both Healthy Democracy and the International Association for Public Participation are members of NCDD, and we couldn’t be more pleased to celebrate both organizations’ excellent work.
You can read more about all of IAP2′s 2013 awards in their press release below. Congratulations to all the award winners, and here’s hoping that 2014 brings even better projects and bigger successes for the field!
International Core Values Awards celebrate Excellence in Public Participation
(Salt Lake City, Utah USA) – At the IAP2 North American Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) announced the 2013 International Core Values Awards honoring award winners from around the IAP2 Federation Presiding Member, Ms. Nomi Muthialu 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 public participation. The laureates of the 2013 awards represent best practice in our field, and serve as model of excellence for others to emulate.”
Healthy Democracy (Portland, Oregon, USA) was selected the IAP2 International Project of the Year for their entry, “The Citizens’ Initiative Review” which addressed the question: how can we strengthen ballot measures as a tool for public participation in government by giving voters the unbiased information they need to make informed decisions? Tyrone Reitman, Executive Director of Healthy Democracy, said, “We’re honored to see the Citizens’ Initiative Review recognized as project of the year by the leading international organization for public participation. Our moderators, panelists, and supporters have done a tremendous amount of work to develop a fair, unbiased process that improves the initiative system for Oregonians.”
Finalists for the “best of the best” international award were gathered from entries submitted by national affiliates in Australasia, Canada, Southern Africa and the United States. Other winners recognized this year include:
IAP2 International Member-at-Large Project of the Year Award winner Intelligent Futures in partnership with O2 Planning + Design (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada) were recognized for their entry entitled, “Our Wascana”. “This project was a unique opportunity to combine creativity in engagement with long-term strategic thinking. By combining place-based engagement, creative graphic design, social media and face-to-face workshops, we were able to really understand how much the community values the Wascana Centre. This was a crucial element to planning the next 50 years of Wascana and beyond,” notes Mr. John Lewis, President of Intelligent Futures.
The City of Calgary, Calgary Transit (Calgary, AB, Canada) received Highly Commended recognition for their entry entitled, “Route Ahead: The 30-year strategic plan for Calgary Transit.”
In addition, the 2013 Project of the Year awards presented by IAP2 national affiliates include:
In Southern Africa: Sonja Pithey Consulting the “City of Cape Town S78(3) Waste Review Stakeholder Engagement” process.
In Australasia: City of Marion, South Australia “Making Marion – A Community Plan towards 2040.”
In the USA: City of West Hollywood, Social Services Division, “City of West Hollywood 2013 Community Study: Engaging, Listening, Learning” as well as Healthy Democracy “The Citizens’ Initiative Review”.
“We are delighted with the response to the 2013 IAP2 Core Values Awards competition from public participation practitioners all over the world. This is a testament to the huge growth of our field of expertise”.
Special thanks were extended to the international jury members, Ms. Leanne Hartill, IAP2 Federation Director (Australia), Mr. Rodolfo Lewanski, University of Bologna, IAP2 Italy (2012 Award Winner). Ms. Patricia Munro, World Café Europe, (Germany) and Ms. Fiona Cavanagh, Centre for Public Involvement, (Canada).
Media inquiries: Iris Almeida-Côté, IAP2 International Headquarters. Email: [email protected] Website: www.iap2.org
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