A new public communications advisor, improved website, new engagement strategy, public (and private) meetings, a transit survey launched on the heels of a budget feedback survey and even a focus group: the Town of Cochrane is using every tool at its disposal to engage residents in perhaps the most important function – public engagement.
It’s been a busy year, or couple of years, depending on your perspective.
“Let’s Talk Cochrane,” (a dedicated engagement platform) the most visible of the recent Town engagement vehicles, launched last year, aimed at encouraging more people to get involved in the decision-making process.
At a meeting Tuesday evening, manager of intergovernmental relations and corporate communications, Kristen Huybrecht, presented council with an update on activities her department has been involved in since launching a new public engagement effort in the fall of 2023.
There was Envision Cochrane, the census, and a couple of fun things like the name the snow plow contest, and guess the population, the results of which are nearly complete.
A survey designed to identify possible areas of improvement gathered feedback from 627 contributors, and a focus group involved 27 participants.
The purpose of the focus group was to help administration understand what engagement activities were working well, and what needed improvement.
Feedback from the survey and the focus groups was similar.
When asked ‘What would encourage you to participate?’ survey respondents’ top three answers were: knowing input will make a difference, access to information about the topic, and understanding how my input will be used.
“The other thing we learned this year is that engagement can be fun,” Huybrecht said. “Many people want to influence decisions, but they also want to help brainstorm solutions to problems and exercise their creativity.”
Survey respondents were asked what gets in the way of participating in public engagement.
Their responses included: perception that Cochrane has already made a decision and input will not be considered; perception that some topics are being avoided; not including public engagement as a part of the project planning process; lack of trust in decision-makers; other commitments that limit availability to participate; lack of flexible participation options that accommodate schedules; lack of transportation, technology, childcare and/ or pet care options; age, physical and/or mental health limitations; not feeling safe to participate due to disrespectful dialogue and/or comments from other participants, feeling disconnected or disengaged from the community; lack of information about the topic, when the engagement will take place, how to participate and who to contact; lack of clarity about how input will be used by Cochrane; and, short notice about engagement opportunities.
The most recent example of engagement is the transit survey launched this week. Residents can provide their feedback online until June 7 at Letstalkcochrane.ca/transit.
Additionally, they can also provide feedback in person on Thursday, May 30 from 4 to 8 pm at The Station, 360 Railway Street W. or Saturday, June 1 from 9 am to 1 pm at Cochrane Farmers Market (parking lot of SLS Centre, 800 Griffin Rd E).
