Browsing by Author "Ranasinghe, Srimal Isaac"

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    The Engaged Community: Trust-Building within Public Engagement toward Community Development
    (2018-02) Ranasinghe, Srimal Isaac; Keough, Noel; Harper, Thomas; Goopy, Suzanne; Tsenkova, S.
    This phenomenological inductive study addresses the issue of trust-building within the process of public engagement toward community development. The proposed engagement framework drew on data collected in the community of Marlborough, situated in the western Canadian city of Calgary, the Trust Confidence Cooperation (TCC) Model of cooperation, and the theories of social capital, equity planning, and complex systems. Key findings that emerged during the study indicate that trust and social capital are important to the success of conventional engagement methods such as surveys/questionnaires and open houses. The core attributes of a trust-building engagement process are positive outcomes, a relational approach, diversity, collaboration, physical presence, social capital, effective communication, customization, managing expectations, an adaptive approach, and dialogue. This study also proposes recommendations that address both process-level and systemic issues in the process of public engagement toward community development. Among others, these include: the need for adaptive governance structures that allow flexibility and customization, that community development processes be subsumed by a relational trust-building public engagement process, emphasizing cross-disciplinary collaboration, and managing community expectations through clear communication devoid of jargon.