RE: Who is "The Public"?
- Archived: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 16:38:00 -0400 (EDT)
- Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 15:36:17 -0400 (EDT)
- From: Elizabeth Carlson <beth.carlson@dnr.state.mn.us>
- Subject: RE: Who is "The Public"?
- X-topic: Outreach
Paul's list of potential "communities of interest" is very good as a starting point. Remember the issue of scale - is the situation nationwide? a state? a watershed or ecosystem? a municipality? a neighborhood? I would also add "communities of place" and "communities of practice."
"Communities of place" has some overlaps with his list, but would also include potentially affected interests in the relevant geographic area such as site-specific residents, workers, seasonal visitors . . . it depends on the situation.
"Communities of practice" (also overlapping Paul's list a bit)would be people in fields of practice related to the issue at hand. For a wetlands issue, that could include various kinds of technical experts inside a variety of federal, state, and local government entities, in academia, in research institutions, or in the private sector.
None of these lists is ever 100% applicable, but it's good to take an organized look at who might care about an agency policy or decision, who might be affected, and who might have information to contribute (whether scientific or anecdotal, big picture or local).
Beth
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