Prototype indicators of value added through public involvement

As more managers realize that public input in public sector decision making is a given in the current political and social climate, many are turning to public involvement as a way to manage input so that it is beneficial to their decisions and projects. Public involvement is starting to become a familiar way of doing business for many Federal agencies and its contractors. Yet, many, if not most agency and contractor managers are still unclear about the value and costs that public involvement adds to their projects. Proponents claim that public involvement increases the acceptability of project goals by increasing stakeholders` knowledge about and involvement in decisions of importance to them. In spite of these assertions avowing the benefits of public involvement, proponents have not generated methods that demonstrate or provide evidence of such value added through incorporating public involvement into projects. As these questions about the value and costs of public involvement efforts increase, there is a pressing need to document the value and costs of public involvement for the participants in these processes--the stakeholders--and to present this information to decision makers in ways that help them assess the value and costs of managing public input through a publicmore » involvement program.« less