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Understanding of the potential challenges from the outset is necessary in order for them to be addressed – so what are the reasons for common problems? Access Failure to engage with a wider audience, specifically the ‘hard to reach,’ and to gain responses from the ‘silent majority’. Apathy and consultation fatigue. Clarity A lack of ...

Ideally the early stage of strategy formation in a consultation programme should assess the context of the consultation as broadly as possible to ensure that all factors are taken into account. Useful methods for situational analysis are the PEST (political, economic, social, and technological) and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) methods. Stakeholder analysis is central ...

So far this century, we have experienced a huge increase in the number of consultations ending up in the courts. The Consultation Institute, specifically its two-day The Law of Consultation training course, provides a very comprehensive overview. Several of the examples featured involve planning and development. Due to the absence of a requirement to consultation ...

In recent blogs, I’ve focussed on my work with the Environmental Working Group of The Consultation Institute and the need for a clear strategy. In the time that we’ve been planning our work, Covid-19 has changed everything, and it’s certainly had a significant impact on discussions about climate change.  The points below show just a ...

Following on from my earlier blog about the need for a comprehensive engagement strategy on climate change issues, I plan to look at some of specific elements of the strategic framework in a bit more detail, starting with messaging. Climate change is such a broad subject, it’s not surprising that it has many conflicting messages ...

In the Consultation Institute’s Environment Working Group’s first webinar we outlined our belief that the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic has huge potential as a ‘green’ recovery. In the last three months the nation has been shocked by the pace at which disaster can occur and consequently concerns about climate change have been brought to ...

There is no denying the fact that the impact of climate change is substantial, universal, and requires both adaptation and mitigation. Even amid the current Covid-19 crisis, climate change remains a pressing issue – if anything the issue is highlighted by the evidence that clean air, clean waterways and more sustainable living and working practices ...

This time two weeks ago a development director of a leisure company might have been running or contributing to a consultation event for a proposed scheme – providing there was enough hand sanitizer to go round.  But what a difference a fortnight makes.  Today all leisure facilities are closed, public meetings are banned and most ...

This time two weeks ago a housing association might have been running or contributing to a consultation event for a proposed scheme – providing there was enough hand sanitizer to go round.  But what a difference a fortnight makes.  Today all public meetings and construction work is banned, and any ongoing work is taking place ...

In the epicentre of a crisis, looking to the future can seem both pointless and worrying.  But longer term, challenges can create positives – consider the career opportunities for women following WW1 and the establishment of the NHS following WW2. The potential impact of coronavirus on the development sector is significant, not just today but ...

Researching likely consultees at the start of the consultation process ensures that the consultation strategy takes into account the appropriate number of residents to be targeted, the diversity within the community and an understanding of where power lies.   Without it, the consultation runs the risk of being asymmetrical and failing to reach certain sections of ...

An organisation specialising in consultation, which will remain nameless (you know who you are!) continually refers – despite my protestations to the contrary – to PR as ‘spin’.  In its eyes, consultation which doesn’t deliver good two way dialogue is ‘PR’. As a PR consultant specialising in consultation, this has always irritated me because PR ...