One important area of primary research undertaken when embarking on any large scale project entails  engagement or consultation with relevant and interested parties. Public engagement is the broadest term used to describe the increasingly necessary process that companies, organizations, and governments must undertake to achieve a “social licence to operate.” Engagement can range from simply informing the public about plans for a project, to engaging in more consultative practices like getting input and feedback from various groups, and even to empowering key community members in the final decision-making process.

For projects that have social, economic, and environmental impacts, engagement and consultation is an increasingly critical part of the planning stage. Creating an understanding of how projects will affect a wide variety of people, organizations, and the natural world is beneficial for both the company instigating the project and those who will be affected by it. Listening to feedback and concerns can be helpful in identifying and mitigating risks that could otherwise slow down or even derail a project. For relevant parties, the consultation process creates an opportunity to be informed, as well as to inform the company about local contexts that may not be obvious, to raise issues and concerns, and to help shape the objectives and outcomes of the project.

Who should be consulted?

When determining who you need to consult or engage with, you need to consider who (or what) will be impacted by the project, and who has the potential to impact or influence project decisions and implementation.

Consider using the Three I’s Framework:  INTEREST, INFLUENCE and IMPACT.

“Relevant parties” include individuals and groups who have the power to influence the project, those who are interested in the project, and those who might be impacted by the project, either positively or negatively. They can be internal – people from within the company or organization (owners, managers, employees, shareholders, volunteers, interns, students, etc.) – and external, such as community members or groups, investors, suppliers, consumers, policy makers, etc. Increasingly, arguments are being made for considering non-human parties such as wildlife and the natural environment.^[1]

Historically, the term “stakeholder” has been used as a catch all term to refer to any individual or group who may have a direct or indirect “stake” in the project. However, in the Canadian context, this term has come to be seem as problematic, especially in Indigenous contexts. Here is an explanation from the BC Government website on Terminology in Indigenous Content:

When engaging in projects, it is becoming increasingly important to engage and consult with a wide variety of relevant and interested parties, and this usually includes Indigenous communities. Therefore, it’s wise to consider alternatives to the word “stakeholder” that you might use in various contexts to more precisely determine who should be consulted and what kind of engagement is needed.

Engaging and consulting with relevant parties can contribute significantly to the decision-making and problem-solving processes. People most affected by the problem and most directly impacted by its effects can help you to

• understand the context, issues and potential impacts more fully
• determine your focus, scope, and objectives for solutions
• establish whether further research is needed into the problem.

People who are also attempting to solve the same or similar problem can help you

• refine, refocus, prioritize solution ideas
• define necessary steps to achieving them
• implement solutions, provide key data, resources, etc.

There are also people who could help solve the problem, but lack awareness of the problem or their potential role to influence outcomes. Consultation processes help create the awareness of the project to potentially get these people involved during the early stages of the project.

Mapping the Social Landscape

The more a group will be materially affected by the proposed project, the more important it is for them to be identified, properly informed, and encouraged to participate in the consultation process. It is therefore critical to determine who the various relevant parties are, as well as their level of interest in the project, the potential impact it will have on them, and power they have to shape the process and outcome. You might start by brainstorming or mind-mapping all the people and groups you can think of in the “social landscape” that might influence or be affected by your project. See Figure 5.5.1 as an example.

Social Landscape Map for Traffic Citation System

Once you have identified the individuals, groups and organizations that may be impacted, organize them into categories or a matrix. One standard method of organizing is to determine which ones are likely to be in support of the project and which are likely to oppose it, and then determine how much power or influence each of those groups has (see Figure 5.5.2).  For example, a mayor of a community has a strong level of influence. If the mayor is in full support of the project, they would go in the top right corner of the matrix. Someone who is deeply opposed to the project, but has little influence or power, would go at the bottom left corner.

A matrix like this can help you determine what level of engagement is warranted:  where efforts to “consult and involve” might be most needed and most effective, or where more efforts to simply “inform” might be most useful, or even where you might try to recruit volunteers.  You might also consider the level of knowledge each party has on the issue, level of commitment (whether in support or opposed), and resources available.

Levels of Consultation and Engagement

There are various levels of engagement, ranging from simply informing people about what you plan to do, to actively seeking consent and placing the final decision in their hands. This range, presented in Figure 5.5.3, is typically presented as a “spectrum” or continuum of engagement from the least to most amount of engagement.

Depending on the type of project, the potential impacts and the types and needs of those involved, you may engage in a number of levels and strategies of engagement across this spectrum using a variety of different tools.

Many tools are available to help structure different kinds of engagement. Table 5.5.1 lists many options, categorized by where they fall on the spectrum.

Planning an Engagement Project

There is no single “right” way of consulting. Each situation will be different so each consultation process will be context-specific and will require a detailed plan. A poorly planned consultation process can backfire as it can lead to a lack of trust between those being engaged and the company doing the engagement. In such cases, the “engagement” can seem like a public relations stunt, or even an attempt to deceptively persuade. Therefore, it is critical that the process be carefully mapped out in advance, and that preliminary work is done to determine the needs and goals of the process and who the relevant parties are that should be involved. In particular, make sure that whatever tools you choose to use are fully accessible to all parties you plan to consult; an online survey is not much use to a community that lacks robust internet infrastructure. Consider the steps outlined below.

As you can see from the above list of steps , consultation and engagement processes require strong communications skills. Effective communication is the foundation for meaningful engagement, which relies on the following skills:

• Written and Visual Rhetoric: Creating and disseminate useful written and visual information that will interest relevant parties in participating in the consultation
• Interpersonal and intercultural skills: Relate to people in face-to-face situations, developing meaningful relationships, building trust, and actively listen to those being engage; making participants feel comfortable and secure;  being mindful of cultural factors that may affect interest level, accessibility, impact, values, or opinions.
• Public speaking: presenting information to large audiences in a comfortable and understandable way. The ability to present effective visual information that assists the audience’s understanding
• Active Listening: The ability to focus on the speaker and react in ways that provide them with the time and safety needed to be heard and understood. The ability to report back accurately and fully what you have heard from participants.

Engaging Responsibly

Engagement and consultation activities in a university setting may require Human Research Ethics Approval, which is a complex process. Collecting data from human participants is a form of “human research” and you must be aware of and follow strict ethical guidelines of your academic institution. Doing this is part of your responsibility to maintain academic integrity. Thus, if you plan to implement an engagement strategy such as conducting surveys or interviews with participants outside of your class, please make sure you have explicit permission from your instructor before you begin, and that you are following the Human Research guidelines of your institution.

In Canada, post-secondary educational institutions must ensure that all research involving humans conducted at that institution complies with the Tri-Council Policy Statement. These rules are in place to protect people and communities from potential risk or harm and to ensure ethical conduct while doing research.

Please note: Engagement and consultation with certain groups and communities requires specialized knowledge and should only be undertaken by engagement professionals who have had the requisite training to engage respectfully with vulnerable or marginalized groups about sensitive issues. For more information, see the following resources:

Cana Uluak itchuaqiyaq:  Equipping Organizations, Researchers, and Educators in Effective, Equitable, and Respectful Engagement with Marginalized Knowledges, Communities, and Issues

Brenden Boyd and Sophie Lorefice: “Understanding Consultation and Engagement with Indigenous Peoples in Resource Development.” The School of Public Policy Publications, vol. 12(22), 2019.

Dimayuga, D. McGregor, & K. Murphy. “A review of collaborative research practices with Indigenous Peoples in engineering, energy, and infrastructure.” Energy, Sustainability and Society, vol.13(1), 2023. pp.  1–17.

University of Victoria’s “Campus Greenway Engagement Plan.”^[2]  offers an example of an engagement project on campus. A significant step in this plan — a Design Charrette — was implemented in the fall of 2018; the results of that engagement activity, presented in a Summary Report (.pdf) ^[3] resulted in changes and augmentation of the original plan based on participant feedback. Most notably, participants did not like the term “Grand Promenade” and the whole project we renamed the Campus Greenway.