Online Engagement Tool

Community engagement, an integral component of the planning process, affords community members the opportunity to weigh-in on projects that may impact their well-being. While typical engagement activities include community information and consultation events and town hall meetings, there has been a relatively recent shift in how governments, developers, and planners engage with the public to encourage their participation - with an increased focus on new types of engagement - including digital and online engagement. Although community meetings and face-to-face interaction are valuable, it is often difficult to get the public to engage due to time constraints, lack of accessibility, and pessimism about their ability to make a difference. Therefore, the push to make data more accessible has led many organisations to use online engagement tools to increase participation in the planning process. The use of online engagement tools to increase awareness and aid in collaborative decision-making is not only useful, it is becoming necessary.