Community Engagement

The best planning processes include community leaders, landowners, citizens, and stakeholders. What often differentiates successful communities from their neighbors is their willingness to come face-to-face with competing interests and make informed, strategic choices to guide their future. The challenge is finding an appropriate balance between technical information, community values, and public sentiment.

Today’s planning participants expect and deserve a forum where information can be easily exchanged but, most importantly, a forum where information is gathered—from them. Kimley-Horn’s team is known for our engagement strategies, listening skills, and techniques that place an emphasis on increasing the volume and variety of participation. In each engagement, we carefully create equitable access to the community planning process and develop effective methods of gathering information. The thoughtful execution of our community engagement strategies provides an ease of understanding and confidence in engagement results by local decision-makers.

Active, Passive, and Digital

Community empowerment and informed decision-making doesn’t happen by accident. The competition for time requires a diverse approach when considering how best to connect with stakeholders. In addition to representative forms of engagement such as project committees, Kimley-Horn employs a variety of effective in-person techniques including small group meetings, workshops, charrettes, and project symposia as methods where the tangible exchange of ideas occur. However, the ever-increasing demands for participant time also require us to be experts in social media, online surveys, and virtual online engagement techniques. Our award-winning approach to community engagement has led to industry recognition, local adoption, and endorsement of a plan or design.

Identifying the Needs of Clients and the Public

Understanding the public involvement process and the requirements of local municipalities can be challenging.

From approval processes to keeping the public informed, hiring a firm with a local understanding of your project needs can determine how your project will be received by local agencies and the public. With thousands of professionals across the U.S., Kimley-Horn’s pool of national experts—from designers, planners, and land development professionals to environmental scientists—is on hand to help ensure a smooth public approval process. Working seamlessly as one team across the country, we draw from our local experts to streamline permitting and other approval requirements.

Many public projects are challenging, controversial, and complex. The challenge is most often not the design itself, but developing and implementing an inclusive, engaging, and effective public process. Our public involvement experience provides a unique perspective on community engagement. Working collaboratively with our clients, we help craft a public involvement plan that will purposefully engage the community, emphasize listening and learning, effectively consider alternatives, evaluate key priorities, and define shared community values.

Transition to Digital Public Involvement

Learn how leveraging digital public involvement tools can help you carry out effective public engagement, while connecting with your community in new and innovative ways.