Civicplan wins the 2018 International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Canada Core Values Award for Extending the Practice through Creativity, Contribution and Innovation in the Field.
IAP2 Canada is an association of professionals in the field of public participation (P2), who seek to promote and improve the practice in relation to individuals, governments, institutions and other entities that affect the public interest in Canada and around the world. The IAP2 Canada Core Values Awards aim to encourage new and innovative approaches to public engagement practices and processes. The awards go to projects which best demonstrate the IAP2’s Core Values. Civicplan won this year’s award for its work on the ForWard One Participatory Budgeting process, where innovative approaches to engagement are employed to encourage a broad cross section of residents to identify and prioritize infrastructure projects in their community.
Core Values for the Practice of Public Participation
IAP2 Canada adheres to the core values developed by the Federation with broad international input. These identify the aspects of public participation which cross national, cultural, and religious boundaries. The purpose of these core values is to help make better decisions which reflect the interests and concerns of potentially affected people and entities:
- Public participation is based on the belief that those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process.
- Public participation includes the promise that the public’s contribution will influence the decision.
- Public participation promotes sustainable decisions by recognizing and communicating the needs and interests of all participants, including decision makers.
- Public participation seeks out and facilitates the involvement of those potentially affected by or interested in a decision.
- Public participation seeks input from participants in designing how they participate.
- Public participation provides participants with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way.
- Public participation communicates to participants how their input affected the decision.