Baker
>>11030009 lb
Sometimes 'public awareness' of certain events prevents occurrence.
Sometimes 'public awareness' of certain events forces accountability.
Q
Public Participation Guide: Introduction to Public Participation
Public participation can be any process that directly engages the public in decision-making and gives full consideration to public input in making that decision.Public participation is a process, not a single event. It consists of a series of activities and actions by a sponsor agency over the full lifespan of a project to both inform the public and obtain input from them. Public participation affords stakeholders (those that have an interest or stake in an issue, such as individuals, interest groups, communities) the opportunity to influence decisions that affect their lives.
Agencies should not be concerned that seeking public input means having to do “what the public wants.” Generally speaking, there is no single public. Rather, the public consists of a range of stakeholders holding an array of views and concerns on an issue. When conducting meaningful public participation, an agency will gather input from a wide spectrum of stakeholder interests, resulting in a wide range of views and concerns and providing fair treatment, meaningful involvement and social inclusion for all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sexual orientation or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and decisions made through the public participation process. The job of the sponsor agency then is to balance among these views and concerns, and reflect the decisions back so that the public understands how its diverse concerns were considered.
Not all public participation is the same. Conducting meaningful public participation involves seeking public input at the specific points in the decision process and on the specific issues where such input has a real potential to help shape the decision or action. It is rarely appropriate or useful to simply ask the public “what do you want.” Such broad questions will only raise expectations and likely direct input to areas where no influence is actually possible. Sometimes the opportunity for influence is quite small, while at other times the public can have a great deal of influence. The amount of this potential influence is the main consideration in designing a successful public participation program.
https://www.epa.gov/international-cooperation/public-participation-guide-introduction-public-participation