Public Outreach & Stakeholder Engagement

As part of our environmental compliance services, SwRI assists government agencies in meeting their goals of openness and transparency through robust stakeholder engagement. We develop informational materials, staff meetings and town hall events, and gather feedback to help clients prepare Environmental Impact Statements, ensuring that the voices and concerns of local communities are recorded and considered.

SwRI staff members have planned, supported, and executed stakeholder engagement activities ranging from small, focused workshops to large public meetings on complex and contentious issues. Our tailored approaches have helped successfully engage a wide spectrum of stakeholders, including government agencies, advocacy groups, Native American tribes, industry, non-profit organizations, and private citizens.

By investing in stakeholder engagement, clients can expect:

• Increased trust and credibility
• Improved public relationships
• Better understanding of stakeholders’ point of view to more effectively address concerns
• Clear, helpful transfer of information
• Reduced conflict and misunderstanding

We provide flexible support for:

• Single- and multi-day workshops that focus on enabling dialogue on technical and regulatory issues
• Internal group meetings to facilitate communications
• Message mapping for external communiqués to ensure that information is conveyed effectively
• Gathering, organizing, summarizing, and responding to public comments on documents, including bulk processing of form letters
• Development of educational materials, including web page content, fact sheets, posters, and handouts
• Development and implementation of communications plans

Our support includes:

• Planning, including identification of appropriate sites, meeting format, and notification to stakeholders
• Content preparation, including development of key messages, presentations, and meeting materials
• Client staff training and preparation, including development and practice of FAQs
• Logistical support, including contracting of venues, audio visual support, recording, and other services needed for a successful event
• Trained facilitators to ensure smooth meeting execution
• Post-meeting support, including meeting summaries, lessons learned activities, feedback evaluation, and stakeholder follow-up