The Public Participation Handbook: Making Better Decisions Through Citizen Involvement

This book is written for the thousands of people in federal, state, or local agencies, community organizations, or corporations who see the value of involving the public in decisions made by their organizations but seek practical guidance on how to do this effectively. As the word handbook in the title suggests, this is essentially a how-to book, written from the perspective of a practitioner for people who will be designing and conducting public participation programs. It provides hands on experience on  designing a participation process, selecting techniques to encourage participation, facilitating successful public meetings, working with the media, and evaluating the program.  It is also filled with practical advice, checklists, worksheets, and illustrative examples.