In May 1995, the DOE published an Environmental Management Public Participation Policy that defined specific goals, plans, and implementation guidance for engaging stakeholders. In subsequent years, it has followed through with more specific analytical studies and evaluations, including scorecards that compare DOE's performance with that of other governmental and industrial sectors, in their management of stakeholder processes. When To Start A Community Involvement Group There must be sufficient time to address the issues of concern. It takes time for issues to evolve and even more time to resolve issues by consensus. It is hard to get involvement on issues that people do not see as urgently impacting their lives.
Some emotional involvement is needed from one side or the other, or both.
On the other hand, the issue cannot be so acute that people cannot talk about it civilly. Nor can it be so large that it is impossible to address with this kind of process, e.g., Bosnia. The process must be structured to make an impact, not just to educate. Thus consensus, not voting, should be the decisionmaking process. The right mix of people must be involved and empowered to have influence.