Full Report - Knight Program in Community Building

HURLEY | THE PUBLIC PROCESS 9Another early task is to agree on a facilitator for the group, whether it is aseparate hired facilitator, or simply group members rotating to play that role. Thefacilitator is part traffic cop, part gadfly. As traffic cop, the facilitator keeps the groupfocused on the agenda and enforces the ground rules, making the group a safe placefor people to discuss ideas and problems. As gadfly, the facilitator asks for clarification,uncovers underlying interests, and tests statements and agreements to see if they hold.Having a neutral third party whose job is to focus only on the process frees upother group members to advocate their own positions.Lesson: Have a charrette team member whose primary responsibility is to focuson the process. Be clear about the rules of engagement.As discussed earlier, many collaborative projects are consensus-based. However,the key point here is to be explicit about how decisions are made and who makesthem. People should know from the very beginning what role they play. Theparticipatory process should always be tied directly to a decision-making process.In charrettes, the role of participants is typically advisory. The designers use thatinput to develop and improve the plan, but the City Council makes the decisionabout whether or not to adopt the plan. Although charrettes are transparent inthe sense that the meetings and events during the charrette are public and publicized,there is not always a clear explanation of how the charrette fits into the larger policymakingframework.Lesson: Be clear about the decision-making process and the role of the public.In some cases, one or more parties in a collaborative process may need trainingto participate effectively, training in either the process or in the substantive issues.This task is especially important if parties have very different levels of education orskills. The Opening Presentation common in New Urbanist charrettes plays this role.Some of the activities common in the assessment/convening stage are conductedby the charrette sponsor and the designers as part of the RFP and contracting process.For example, the client usually identifies some of the important stakeholders andtheir interests. That task is continued in the public meetings held during charrettes.However, I believe that more thorough attention to the tasks of this stage wouldleverage the power of a charrette to spark lasting change in a community.Strategically, I think that more attention to these tasks would lead to more frequentand more faithful implementation of charrette plans.