Management Strategies: Contact Strategies

Following our discussions with natural resource professionals, we reviewed comments and suggestions and grouped individual suggestions into categories according to themes we believed were common to individual suggestions. This category of suggestions relates to practical ways that might be effective for outreach and communication.

Professional Help with Outreach

To assist you with communication and outreach, consider hiring a public relations or marketing firm. This is a potential response to a lack of public understanding (Appendix 3 - Figure 24-27, and 28-31) about what your agency does, what its mission and goals are, and actions and resources for which your agency is not responsible. Resource managers and agency staff may not always be communicating effectively with members of the public. This can be the result of various circumstances. For example, as one resource professional we spoke with pointed out, it can be difficult for some natural resource professionals to communicate well with members of the public if they are disinclined towards much social engagement. Another condition that may result in poor public understanding of natural resource management and issues is that members of the public may lack the scientific training and background that professionals possess. Lay persons in the public may not understand the terminology and concepts so well understood by professionals (Appendix 3 - Figure 52-55). For example, the general public may not understand what urban forests are and what is required to manage them. Among the many helpful questions managers might ask themselves is, what kind of communication has occurred - has the word "urban forest" been included in a way that lay people can understand? Dissemination of urban forest terms and concepts, in an easy to understand way, into the general culture will impact the general population's awareness of urban forest management.

If an agency is legally prohibited from directly contracting with a marketing or PR firm, they may also work through private and non-profit partners who can help by contracting with a private PR/ marketing firm on behalf of the agency.

Alternatively, rather than hire an outside firm, an agency or organization might consider hiring a full-time PR/marketing professional, or professionals. Some agencies may benefit from having in-house PR and outreach, particularly if they are managing higher profile or potentially contentious natural resources. The added costs of additional in-house staff could perhaps be alleviated by several departments or perhaps even agencies using the same PR staff, thereby spreading costs over multiple budgets.

Web-based media

In recent years, social media have increasingly constituted popular forums for communication. People can tweet, blog, and post on Facebook, thereby communicating nearly instantly through computers and smart phones. This is a powerful medium through which agencies can engage in outreach and communication with their constituents and members of the community at large (Appendix 3 - Figure 32-35). In particular, young adults and teens seem to rely heavily on social media for communication and information. Outreach to teens and young adults via web-based tools and social media may be especially urgent as studies are suggesting that teens and young adults are spending less time in nature (Miller, 2005). Agencies can improve their chances of reaching youth through their preferred modes of communication. For example, social media used heavily by young people such as Twitter (https://twitter.com/) and Instagram (http://instagram.com/#) allow people to communicate at any moment. An added advantage of social media is that the services can provide analytics concerning use. Agency personnel can easily keep track of usage, messaging, and other important analytics that can inform and guide current and future outreach and messaging.

An agency or organization that fails to capitalize on the communication potential of social media likely loses a powerful tool for outreach. An agency could assign responsibility to a staff person or even a (youth) volunteer to generate short, fun, interesting tweets, postings, or emails that would be well-received by teens and adults alike. Posting photographs and artwork related to the agency and urban trees, forests, and other natural resource sites on social media pages could be a tremendously powerful form of outreach and engagement. Web-based media can facilitate outreach and feedback for faster responses to popular demands. Using web-based social media will be a strategy agencies need to adopt if they wish to remain relevant to consumers in the future. Face to face interaction is important, but social media and other internet-based communication should not be ignored. Resource managers and professionals must bear in mind, too, that many, if not most, people rely principally on smart phones and other hand held devices, so web designs and communication need to be suitable for smaller screens.

In the use of electronic media, web design and appearance matters. By making web pages easy to navigate, engaging, and fun, an agency improves the visitor's experience. Researchers have demonstrated that web users are likelier to remain on a site and return to a site if it has high levels of usability, useful content, adequate information, accessibility, and interaction (Yang, Cai, Zhou, & Zhou, 2005).

Recruit trusted experts and local knowledgeable people

The results of our survey data analysis indicate that there are relatively low levels of trust in government among our sample (Appendix 3 - Figure 40-43). This may be due, in part, to the general tone of politics in the U.S. currently, and low job approval ratings for politicians (Gallup, 2013). Resource professionals we spoke with indicated that it was their impression that "anti- government," "anti-politician" sentiment seems to exist among the general population. Public distrust of government and/or politicians may be influencing public attitudes about agencies, creating negative feelings towards an agency simply because it is a government entity. If residents in your city have a poor understanding of what your agency does and conflate their beliefs about dysfunctional government with your agency, this may have substantial impacts on their attitude about your agency and responses to agency actions. To improve interaction with the public at a time when popular mistrust of government is high, agencies may benefit by seeking the cooperation and help of local trusted experts from within the community the agency serves (Appendix 3 - Figure 40-43). These could be people such as retired university faculty, industry professionals (active or retired), local community leaders or community organizers, or university extension staff. Trusted non- governmental experts that citizens recognize as objective (i.e., not agenda-driven), informed, and educated about natural resource issues or urban design and planning, for example, can be an effective medium through which to communicate agency activities and goals.

Likewise, local knowledgeable people, who may lack formal training and education in natural resources management but are nevertheless self- taught and well informed, can provide avenues into communities that an agency professional may have less success in activating. Not only individuals, but local citizen groups and organization, such as community-based organizations (e.g., Friends of Trees), can also be effective allies in outreach and communication. Citizen and local advocacy groups are generally easy to identify and contact, will have members that are probably well informed about local issues, and will likely be more readily trusted by citizens as acting in citizens' best interests. Assuming agency goals and mission mesh well with a local organization's mission and goals, a local citizen's group can furnish an agency with valuable connection into a community, to act as both a source of information and as an advocate for the agency and responsible urban natural resource management. Local knowledgeable persons and groups also likely have a stronger understanding as insiders, of a community's particular concerns, fears, and demands. Of course, many agency professionals already live within their areas of jurisdiction, and are likely regarded by the local population as trustworthy and reliable sources of information. However, in instances where agencies are encountering difficulties with community outreach and communication, it is advisable to seek the cooperation of local trusted experts, informed lay people, and citizen groups.

Participate/Host Social Events

Educational meetings and presentations are commonly used as an effective way to conduct outreach and engagement with the public. Social events are also worth considering as a means to gathering and disseminating information with members of the public. Perhaps more importantly, informal events with a casual atmosphere can be very effective environments in which to develop relationships with citizens. For example, a casual social gathering hosted by your agency at which food and drinks are served, can be the kind of relaxed atmosphere ideal for agency staff and citizens to develop positive relationships through friendly conversation. Such a social event could be organized to coincide with some sort of local festival or holiday. Or, an agency could host an exhibit in which local artists can showcase their work. An agency could organize the exhibit around some local theme - favorite nature spot, or street trees, for instance. Painters often use nature as their subject, so an art exhibit centering on local natural spaces or resources could be a great way to bring community members together with agency staff in a relaxed, informal atmosphere, and also get people thinking and talking about local natural resources. A photography exhibit might be another type of art festival event to consider. Local amateur and professional photographers could be invited to capture local natural beauty on film, and then exhibit their works at an agency-hosted gallery showing. Again, this would be a great opportunity to create positive associations between an agency and the community, as well as provide a resource for local artists to display their work. Partnerships with local businesses can help offset the costs of space, entertainment, and refreshments through donations or by providing goods at cost. In return for low cost or donated goods, local businesses receive valuable publicity and public exposure. Space for a social event can be negotiated with local community organizations, such as Rotary, Lions, or Elk's clubs, who frequently have large meeting spaces at their disposal. If there are concerns about allowable expenditure of public funds, an agency could seek the help of allied non-profit, non-governmental, or quasi- governmental partner organizations that might have more flexibility in their budgets and spending policies. Another resource for developing relationships with community-based organizations is the local university. Universities typically have extension offices whose mission is community engagement. University extension staff can be rich resources for contact information and suggestions and assistance with engagement. Additionally, many universities now have offices of outreach and engagement whose principal objective is developing relationships between the university, private organizations, and other public entities. Staff in these types of university offices are eager to help and enthusiastic about creating new relationships among different groups and organizations in order to generate innovative solutions to natural resource management challenges.

An agency may not have the resources to organize a specially hosted festival or art exhibit, but a much less involved social event, such as an open house, can also yield positive results. An open house event with light snacks and possibly music can function as an inviting and relaxed opportunity for social interaction. By opening up offices or facilities for visitors, agency staff will be able to strengthen relationships with community members. Open houses can give members of the public a better understanding of agency operations, mission, and operating constraints. Additionally, in such an atmosphere, interaction is informal and more personal. This type of interaction creates a sense of familiarity between agency personnel and members of the public that can ease tensions and any sense of disconnection that citizen stakeholders may feel towards an agency. Through such an event, citizens can more easily come to regard agency staff as individual people, not just "government employees." Citizens may come to regard agency activities and goals differently and more favorably if they connect what agencies are doing to a particular friendly agency person they met and enjoyed speaking with

Another event type worth considering is outside organizations' events and festivals. If the local community stages local fairs or festivals, it is worth having a presence at that event. Your agency can set up a booth or tent at community events. This is a way to meet people on "their own turf" where they likely feel more relaxed and comfortable. Participating in community sponsored events such as arts and crafts fairs, or holiday celebrations, is a means to interact with the public in a low key, low intensity environment. It may be too late to expect community support if an agency's first significant interaction with the community is during a contentious public hearing about a proposed action. By developing bonds with community members in friendly and low intensity social settings, relationships that result in awareness and understanding can be built that can help alleviate or even prevent tensions in the future.