Successful transport decision-making - Osmose

Vol 1 - Table of Contents
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Stakeholder conference
A conference is an excellent opportunity for stakeholders to learn more about a particular transport issue and use the new
skills in solving real projects. The agenda for the event could include presentations by transport professionals on current
transport issues, such as how to 're-allocate road space to reduce speeding'. Then a project team member will give an
overview of a relevant project and stakeholders will have an opportunity (possibly in groups) to reduce speed in their area,
by re-allocating road space. This is a good way of stakeholder engagement for controversial projects, by empowering and
involving stakeholders.
Transport visioning event
A transport visioning event would usually be a half day event, and involve between 20 to 60 people. The basis of the event
will be to discuss all relevant issues of a particular transport project, from identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a
particular area, to highlighting the issues with that area, to identifying possible solutions (no matter how visionary those
solutions are). This is a good method to promote stakeholder awareness and encourage 'out-of-the-box' thinking.
Weekend event
A weekend engagement event is probably one of the most extensive engagement techniques and involves inviting a range
stakeholders to a weekend long discussion and workshop on a particular project. The weekend timeframe usually provides
the opportunity to work through detailed aspects of the transport project process, from problem identification though to
solution generation. The weekend event uses many techniques discussed in this handbook, such as workshops and
exhibitions, and can usually form the major part of the engagement strategy for the project.
Planning for Real
Planning for Real uses simple models as a focus for people to put forward and prioritise ideas on how their area can be
improved. It is a highly visible, hands-on community development and empowerment tool, which people of all abilities and
backgrounds find easy and enjoyable to engage in.
Open space event
Open space events provide a highly democratic framework for enabling any group of people to create their own programme
of discussions on almost any theme without much preparation. They are particularly useful for dealing with general policy
issues, for generating enthusiasm and for dealing with urgent issues needing quick action.
When to use these tools
Holding a large event is an effective way of bringing together and
directly engaging with large numbers of stakeholders to identify
general areas of concern and gauge the reaction to various
options. It offers the opportunity for every stakeholder to engage
with the process.
How to avoid or overcome potential
problems
No matter how well attended there is no guarantee that such
events will be representative of all stakeholder views, and to
avoid barriers large engagement events should only be one part
of the engagement process. The following therefore should be
taken into consideration:
Unlike many of the other tools for engaging with stakeholders
large events are more prone to a group dynamic which can
distort the outcomes. Barriers will occur if one
interest/viewpoint is allowed to dominate the event. The larger
the event the more difficult it can be to hear all competing
agendas, so enough time must be allowed to ensure
everyone can participate fully.
Such events can be costly and require adequate resourcing,
not just for the event itself but to ensure feedback and follow
up sessions. Barriers will occur if it is not made explicit from
the beginning, how the information obtained will be used, how
it will be fed back to stakeholders and how the event fits into a
continuous process of engagement.
Because of the longer timescale involved it is essential that
barriers are not created through participants being
uncomfortable, or their reasonable needs not being met.
Proper planning will ensure that all participants can access the
venue and media use for the event, and for example;
adequate refreshments are provided.
In planning the event it should be remembered that staff will
need to be on hand with sufficient knowledge of the project to
answer any reasonable questions. Inadequately staffed
events lead to frustration and inevitably create barriers
through misunderstandings.
Before undertaking an event that encourages 'blue sky'
thinking be sure that there is enough flexibility in the project to
allow for radical/innovative ideas to be developed.
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