Community Engagement Philosophy
- Build long-term community trust over the duration of the project with Hennepin County Public Works and the project team by being accountable to the community and honest about how and when community input can influence the process and project and why and when it cannot.
- Follow Hennepin County’s plain language guidelines, so that the community can find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information to meet their needs
- Direct community engagement to project areas where people can have significant and meaningful impact and ensure they have the information they need to do so; no community engagement for community engagement’s sake
- Use innovative techniques that meet people who will be impacted by the project where they’re at, including people of color, low income communities, non-English speakers, persons with disabilities, and others who have been historically underrepresented
- Collaborate with our project partners (City of Minneapolis and Metro Transit) as well as other county initiatives in the project area (Bottineau LRT planning) so that our community engagement efforts are coordinated, community input is shared, and it is less of a burden for people to stay informed and influence these projects
Commitment to respectful, collaborative engagement
The project and consultant teams, as well as the project partners, committed to demonstrating respect for community and working collaboratively to engage people so they influence project decisions. The group defined a stakeholder as an individual or group that can make a claim on this project’s attention, resources, or output, or is affected by the decisions and future uses of the corridor. To collaborate on this project meant to partner with stakeholders in each aspect of the decision including jointly developing scenarios and strategies, and identifying preferred implementation plans. The consulting team included people with extensive experience with the North Side community and worked closely with project staff and community partners to bring important historical and technical knowledge, and design expertise to the project. The project used a consensus-based approach, meaning community-based conclusions and decisions that respect core local values, are both aspirational and realistic, and gain all the support possible to successfully move toward short- and long-term implementation. Note that consensus does not mean agreement by the entire group, but that individuals are willing to go along with the group’s predominant view and live with and support the decision.