Page 13 - Greensboro, NC-GSO 2040 Comprehensive Plan

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
The planning process for GSO2040 was called PLANIT GSO and started with public
engagement. All of these were opportunities to get input, raise awareness, and
get residents signed up for project updates. Public engagement began in 2017
with small pop-up events in the spring and built to bigger events in the fall and
winter including a presence at the National Folk Festival. Throughout the process,
engagement was focused on several areas: traditional public meetings; pop-ups
to interact with people gathered at existing events; a strong online presence;
presentations to organizations like civic groups and neighborhoods; and a speaker
series.

• Community Wide Public Meetings
The first city-wide community open house was the project kick-off meeting and World Café Meeting at Glenwood Recreation Center
celebration held in October of 2018 downtown at Center City Park. Following
this, a series of six community meetings was held at City Recreation Centers
across the city. In March 2019 an all-day event, the PLANIT GSO2040 Fair, was • Online
held at the Central Library. All these events were heavily publicized on a variety Staff regularly published online surveys that supplemented and ran parallel
of platforms from word-of-mouth to social media. to other public engagement. Facebook, Twitter, and NextDoor were used to
publicize events, raise awareness about trends and planning concepts, and
All the events included specific activities to get input, but also to accomodate hold conversations. Online contests were a fun way to get input, for example,
participants who could only arrive at the meeting as their schedules allowed. In “To GSO with Love,” held in the weeks prior to Valentine’s day in 2018.
addition to gathering public comments and feedback on Plan elements as they
were being created, a major emphasis at all of these meetings was to create an • Other
environment where attendees could talk to each other about issues of concern. Presentations to groups and organizations accounted for a large number
of public outreach activities. Staff made dozens of presentations to
• Pop-Up Meetings neighborhood and civic organizations, and made sure to offer this opportunity
Making it easy for participants to engage in the process was a key component. to organizations across the city. Staff also worked closely with internal City
To engage more people in conversations, the City held pop-up meetings departments and boards and commissions to educate and obtain their insight
at existing events where people were already gathered, which created on comprehensive plan initiatives. The Speaker Series brought nationally
opportunities to gather input from all across the City. recognized experts to Greensboro to speak on specific aspects that the
comprehensive plan addresses. More information on the Speakers Series is
Staff set up booths at events ranging from the National Folk Festival, farmers available on page 14.
markets, the Juneteenth Celebration, flea markets, road races, and holiday
parades to name a few. Staff would “pop up” in small venues as well like coffee
shops and outdoor events. City libraries also hosted stand-alone survey stations
where comments could be left.

World Café Meeting at Smith Senior Recreation Center
Pop-up event at Run for the Greenway
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