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What is a ‘community engagement project?’

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Almost as soon as it was announced last December that Polson had been named one of five small American communities to receive the Orton Family Foundation’s Heart and Soul Grant, those involved with applying for the grant realized that it was difficult to explain Heart and Soul to the public. I believe the main reason is that Heart and Soul is not your typical award of money to support an organization’s purposes. Rather, Heart and Soul is an award of matched funding to plan and carry out a community engagement process. We have shied away from using the terms “community engagement” or “public engagement” to explain the project because of the perception that the phrases can come off sounding like just fancy, empty buzzwords. But I’m now realizing that using the terms along with providing an explanation could possibly be helpful. 

Unlike public processes that we are all more familiar with (but most do not participate in), such as meetings to inform citizens of government plans and hearings to acquire community feedback, public engagement processes go a step further. The purpose of public engagement is to enable both the public and policy-makers to work together to develop common ground around issues or policy decisions. It encourages inclusion of all people – including those whose voices are typically not heard – and encourages civil discussion to gain understanding outside of one’s personal perspective before planning is even considered. 

By definition, then, it is not possible to know ahead of time the exact outcome of the Polson Heart and Soul Community Engagement Project. This also has made it difficult to explain the project. The public is more accustomed to being asked for feedback to confirm a course of action that has received a prior commitment. But as a community engagement project, Heart and Soul has no preconceived notions of the project’s results, being firmly committed to results being determined by participants during the course of several months of community engagement work. 

All we can predict is that at the end of the project, we will have arrived at a common ground by listening to one another and working through many choices and trade-offs. This set of values or principles that people hold in common can then become criteria for Polson leaders to check policies and actions against. As stated by a San Mateo, Calif., county supervisor, “If you really want to achieve an as yet unknown outcome that is based on community involvement, then you go to public engagement and you trust the people.” 

Dialogue is important, not just to collect opinions, but to increase understanding of issues and perspectives, and to consider consequences and implications. In this way, public engagement can lead to better solutions for a community. A core part of the Polson Heart and Soul project is neighborhood gatherings to involve people throughout our area in conversations about what they love about Polson and what their hopes are for Polson’s future. The Polson Heart and Soul Neighborhood Gatherings Committee is planning to kick off in October the first of what will be at least 22 of these conversation opportunities spanning about seven months. If you appreciate sharing meaningful conversation around a table with your neighbors (and free food!), desire a voice in public decision-making, prefer proactively identifying concerns and possible solutions, and are open to increasing your understanding of the various interests and ideas of other community members, please plan to attend the Heart and Soul gathering in your neighborhood. 

By doing so, you will be participating in a community engagement process that will help shape Polson’s future. I hope you agree that the term is so much more than just a buzzword. 

(Editor’s note: Darlis Smith is the Polson Heart and Soul Project Co-coordinator.) 

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