RELEASE — Developing a Public Engagement Framework in order to improve the city’s decision-making process has earned the City of Kingston Organization of the Year honours from the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Canada. The award was one of the IAP2 Core Values Awards, presented at the annual IAP2 North American Conference in Charlotte. The IAP2 Core Values Awards recognize achievements in the field of public engagement, ensuring that people affected by a decision are given the opportunity to give input on that decision and to know how their input was taken into account.
Kingston’s Public Engagement Framework (PEF) was developed through consultations, guided by IAP2 principles for public engagement. Workshops, surveys, open houses, one-on-one interviews, focus groups and presentations were held, and City Council adopted the PEF in October 2017.
The PEF aligns with the City’s 2015-2018 Strategic Plan, which lists transparency and citizen engagement in its Open Government priority, and is now entrenched in a Public Engagement Charter, which states that the City will follow IAP2 as the recognized standard for public engagement.
Watch the City of Kingston’s video on Youtube
Among other things, the IAP2 Core Values Award judges were impressed with the pervasiveness of the PEF, rather than applying the principle ad hoc, along with organizational changes and quantitative evidence that shows, after less than eighteen months, a true commitment to public engagement.
“In the last term of council, we set Fostering Open Government as a top priority,” says Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson. “We committed to being more transparent and accountable – and to ensuring that the public was engaged in the municipal decision-making process. In Kingston, we have an incredibly passionate community. It’s been great to see an engagement process unfold in a way that caters to individuals across the city and to see people respond in equal measure. This award is a testament to the incredible work done to further our engagement goals as a city and I couldn’t be more proud.”
The City of Kingston now has the opportunity to be recognized on the world stage, as it will compete against Organizations of the Year from other IAP2 affiliates in Australasia, Southern Africa, USA and Indonesia. That award will be announced in October at the IAP2 Australasian Conference in Sydney, Australia.
Other IAP2 Canada Organizations of the Year include the City of Edmonton (2018), City of Burlington (2017), BC Ministry of Health (2016), City of Victoria (2015) and the City of Calgary (2014).
Find more information about the IAP2 Core Values Awards.
Release: City of Kingston
Image: Google
