A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with one of my mentors. I spent the day with peers from around the world learning about the process of creating system-wide high engagement and performance improvement in organizations.
One of the many take-aways from the day was the reminder that transformational change is a process of discovery A planned approach to change is important, but if you want to make real and lasting change, you have to engage real people on real issues, in real time to find the right solutions. That requires leaders to follow a plan that is flexible and responsive to what is discovered along the way.
There’s no doubt about it, things aren’t perfect in the District of Squamish. We are exactly like 100 per cent of other municipalities in that regard. There is not one Squamish councillor wearing rose-coloured glasses. We see the challenges daily and they are real. But what will differentiate our town over time is how we confront those issues and achieve results.
This council made a commitment earlier this year to adopt the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) methodology for public engagement. On the issues that affect our citizens broadly, we have made a commitment to engage more openly and actively so that we create policy and process improvement that incorporates and responds to citizen feedback.
With that in mind, there are a number of important initiatives underway or about to launch that we believe will benefit from community input. The Integrated Flood Hazard Management Plan engagement process for the river system portion of the project was approved by council last week and will seek input from a broad group of stakeholders. The 2016 budget process is about to get underway, and we will be seeking citizen feedback as the process unfolds. The official community plan engagement strategy is almost complete and will launch in December, with engagement beginning in the new year. Our organics collection program is seeking citizen feedback right now through a short survey, as is recreation services with its customer satisfaction survey.
IAP2 is new for all of us and we will learn and improve with each new engagement process. As we reach out to engage the community on the issues and ideas that matter most to you, our challenge will be to provide easy, seamless and intuitive ways to get involved. Whether it is through surveys, focus groups, social media, meetings or one of the many new engagement techniques we’ll be trialling over the coming year, we encourage you to lean in, join the conversation and help us discover our future and the changes that will create lasting, positive outcomes for Squamish.
