Agenda - Planning Commission - 12/04/2014

Home

Strategies to Improve Communities The Es of Action NRC researchers have identified six kinds of action that can be considered as response to your citizen survey results. These categories of action have been gleaned from studying how jurisdictions have used their resident opinions to improve their communities and they are shown in the graphic, below. Don't feel obliged to identify interventions in each of the six categories, but appreciate them as suggested areas where important movement in community quality can be, and has been, made. Educate Earmark Envision Engage Enact Evaluate Envision: Results of The National Citizen Survey often are used by communities as part of goal setting and strategic or comprehensive planning. By understanding what residents think are the characteristics of the community that are most important to protect or improve, by knowing what is working and what remain challenges, local leaders can be guided toward planning for a community that builds on its strengths and improves in the areas that matter the most. Earmark: Jurisdictions use The National Citizen Survey results most often to allocate or redistribute resources based on the aspects of community that residents find wanting. When mobility is important but not easily available or delivered with obstacles to accessibility, it may be wise to invest more in transit, roads, bicycling or walking paths. If ratings of the community's recreation and wellness are not strong or resident participation in civic volunteer opportunities are weak, wise reallocation of limited resources to enhance those facets of community will help move you forward. Educate: Getting the word out about community amenities, services and opportunities to let residents and leaders of other organizations understand what you do well and what they may not understand about your community is one of the most common uses of survey findings. Whether marketing existing programs or communicating a new community brand, education about what seems to be misunderstood or what may remain little known is a great way to use The NCS results. Engage: Engagement can come in two essential forms — engagement with individuals or partnership with groups. In both cases, the results of your survey are relevant to the community overall and are not simply a comment on local government. Livable communities grow from the connection of businesses, non -profits, the government and residents working together. Engagement with individuals may mean little more than inviting residents to comment and work on The NCS findings; partnership with organizations can even start with your own employees and then spread to work with other levels of government, hospitals, schools and the Chamber of Commerce. When civic life is understood to be everyone's purview, the questions that arise from The NCS aren't only, "how can government improve?" They include, "how can we all contribute to making things better?" Enact: Across the country, hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised or saved based on findings of The National Citizen Survey. These successes are created by findings that indicate support for possible bond raising ballot questions or that identify a need for new services, like recycling or transit, that could save time and money or simply improve the quality of life. Enacting new policies or establishing new programs often are the actions that follow attention to what residents report on their citizen survey. Evaluate: The act of using The NCS is itself an evaluation of community, but beyond that single use of the survey, repeated use permits leaders to determine if the programs, policies or personnel changes they enact have had their intended effects. Other kinds of evaluation can come from The NCS. Often clients want to understand more about a finding of a survey, so they seek information from a more in-depth survey on fewer topics or by listening to groups of stakeholders through guided discussions. Performance measurement — comparing this administration's results to earlier administrations of the survey in your own jurisdiction or to benchmark jurisdictions - is a kind of evaluation that is linked to survey results when resident responses are tracked along with other performance data about service activities and costs. Not every action must reflect each of the Es listed above. Your use of the Es of Action can be effective relying only on one theme. Nevertheless, this © 2014, National Research Center, Inc. Page 6