Blueprints Principles for Public Participation

To have an effective community planning process for land use, environment, and transportation, the community has a responsibility to participate. The public participation process provides the public with an opportunity to explore and understand the impacts of investments on the immediate area and on the community and region as a whole. To ensure that the process is meaningful and productive for those involved, the Blueprints for Successful Communities Program promotes the following principles. In an effective public participation process:

• the public has a say in decisions about actions that affect their lives;
• the public is involved as early as possible in the public participation and decision-making process in order to build trust;
  
• the involvement of those potentially affected is sought and participants are encouraged to assist in defining how they participate;
  
• participants are provided with the information they need to participate in a meaningful way;
  
• education and participation are directly combined whenever possible; the needs and concerns of the public are listened to and their input is integrated into the outcome.