Communication and engagement
with the local population should not end at the planning stage. It is an essential ingredient during all stages of the SUMP process. As implementation is carried out, it is necessary to publicly communicate the progress of the implemented actions, articulating their contribution to the agreed vision and objectives. Citizens and stakeholders who are directly affected by certain actions should be particularly addressed in the process. That way, citizens can realise the connection between their earlier input at a strategic and detailed level and the real changes in their city or neighborhood. This requires honest, ongoing and respectful communication from the city administration to the public - but also vice versa: citizens, the ultimate experts in the actual performance of measures in real life, should be encouraged and should have convenient opportunities to share constructive views about ways to improve and fine-tune measures. Taking such views on board sincerely and responding to them fosters a sense of trust and provides opportunities for improving the implementation process and the final outcomes of measure implementation.
Aims
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Make effective use of resources - taking advantage of both the expertise of professionals and the on-the- ground knowledge of citizens - to achieve the best results possible.
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Increase ownership of measures by involving citizens as much as possible in the monitoring and implementation process.
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Ensure residents are aware of the implications of the changes that are coming to their city, describing the benefits and offering options where changes in daily travel habits will be possible or required.
Tasks
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Talk to citizens or stakeholders who are directly affected (positively or negatively) by a planned measure before starting the implementation, and respond to their concerns. Bear in mind that those who fear being negatively affected will naturally make more ‘noise’ than those who benefit from a measure even if they are in a minority.
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Mitigate negative effects that accompany imple- mentation (e.g. offer support to businesses affected by long-term construction of a new tram route).
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Look for creative ways to engage stakeholders wherever possible (e.g. having children paint footprints on the ground marking safe routes to school).
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Keep the wider public well informed about the progress in measure implementation. Publish evaluation results targeted at citizens and politicians. Present a selected set of indicators (emotional core indicators - see Activity 6.1) in the form of high-quality figures that are easy to understand for non-experts. Provide a general update on the implementation status to the local council every one or two years to keep the SUMP high on the agenda (e.g. in the form of a status report or presentation in a council meeting).
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Highlight milestones of measure implementation and celebrate accomplishments with the community (e.g. a street festival after pedestrianisation).
Activities beyond essential requirements
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Consider options to “co-implement” measures with civic actors (e.g. residents, businesses, artists, sports clubs, schools, senior citizens, trade schools, religious groups, museums etc). Depending on the context they could take over maintenance tasks, provide some light labour, grant access to their own communication channels, engage in training and mentoring activities, report problems, host events, provide data, know-how and ideas or even make financial contributions (crowd-funding/crowd- investment). See the SUNRISE Co-Implementation Guidelines for further inspiration and for a range of concrete examples (e.g. citizen-built bike lanes, place making initiatives with residents, citizen-buses, collective cleaning days and more).
Timing and coordination
Checklist
✔ Citizens and stakeholders who are directly affected by measure implementation involved in implementation process.
✔ Solutions for mitigation of negative effects during implementation identified and pursued.
✔ General public informed about progress of measure implementation.
