RE: Comments on Goals & Dialogue
- Archived: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 19:08:00 -0400 (EDT)
- Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2001 16:53:29 -0400 (EDT)
- From: Nancy Howard <nhoward@ci.newport-news.va.us>
- Subject: RE: Comments on Goals & Dialogue
- X-topic: Introductions/Goals
This is to add a hearty "amen" to Elizabeth Carlson's suggestions about turning the goals into action statements to be achieved. I would also like to add a couple of comments.
My comments are based, by the way, on my experience as a member of EPA's Indigenous Peoples Subcommittee, which is a part of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. During my tenure with NEJAC, I pinpointed three points that I feel are necessary to assure a good foundation for public participation:
1. Considering the volume of documents and work generated by participatory efforts, more concise language, using an active rather than passive voice, would facilitate desired results.
2. Citizens need training in how to effectively participate i.e., how to learn the issues with objectivity, and get past emotionalism so that they can be as effective as possible. I think this needs to be part of the goal structure.
3. Too often, these efforts bypass local government (of which I am a part) and local government needs to be part of this picture as well.
|
|
Date
|