Public Involvement and Outreach

	Colorado.gov
Live Help \| Advanced Search

Safe Drinking Water Program

Information for Consumers

Information for Water System and Water Industry Professionals

Capacity building

Coaching and Assistance
Emergency Response and Security
Excellence Program
Training

Operator certification

Engineering Section

Regulatory guidance

Source water assessment and protection

Safe drinking water basics

Safe Drinking Water Program: Services and Organization

Private well information

Many documents on this site are PDF files, which require the use of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Colorado Radionuclide Abatement and Disposal Strategy
(CO-RADS)

Public Involvement, Outreach
and
Risk Communication

Communicating with customers and the general public about the risks associated with elevated levels of radionuclides in drinking water supplies can be a challenging prospect. Public perception of risk is often driven more by values and long-held beliefs than by technology.

In order to develop and implement effective communication with customers and other stakeholders (those impacted by the situation and actions of the system), it is crucial to gather the data required to understand the interests and concerns of those involved. It is important to remember that costs of capital improvement projects such as those required to address radionuclides are passed on to consumers. Many of these communities must vote to take on debt. By engaging customers and other stakeholders in a dialogue about the issues, a system can:

Build and maintain a mutually trusting and respectful relationship among stakeholders
Collaborate with stakeholders to identify the complexities of the issues facing the community as a whole
Form partnerships within the community to find solutions that meet the needs of the system, the community, and the regulators
Increase public support for the effort

System operators may very well be asking:

Where do I start?
Who should I be talking to?
When should I be talking to them?
What should I be telling my customers?
How do I involve customers in finding solutions?

This section provides tools and ideas to consider in developing an effective risk communication and outreach effort.

Strategic Planning

Risk communication is a strategic planning process. The steps required to plan an effective communication effort include:

Situational Analysis: a clear understanding of the current situation
Data Gathering: researching past records and conducting interviews with key stakeholders
Data Analysis: using interview information to determine interests and concerns, and to identify appropriate communication tools and approaches
Strategy Development: establishing clear goals, approaches, and schedules for the communication/outreach effort, incorporating flexibility to accommodate inevitable changes as the project moves forward
Strategy Implementation: launching the effort
Evaluation and Adjustment: continually evaluating the effort and making changes, as needed, to maintain effective communication with stakeholders

Tools

The Toolbox: Because one size does not fit all when launching a risk communication/outreach effort, it is important to have a number of tools in the toolbox that can be used to address the interests and concerns of diverse groups of stakeholders. The analysis of data gathered during communication strategy development will identify the most effective tools and approaches for communicating with your particular audiences.

Communication Strategy: A key tool for beginning the process is the communication strategy. This tool provides a framework for systematically

identifying key stakeholders,
interviewing them to gather data regarding their knowledge about the issue,
analyzing that data to reach a full understanding of community interests and concerns,
identifying system constraints and limitations to addressing issues and concerns, and
clearly defining schedules, actions, communication tools and approaches, roles, and responsibilities for those involved.

Interviews

Conducted face-to-face with key stakeholders to gather information about

if/how people want to be involved in determining issues and solutions,

what people want and need to know about how radionuclides may be impacting their qualify of life and what the system is doing about it,

how people want to get information and how often,

who community members trust for information.

Sample questions

Data Analysis

compilation and analysis of data collected in interviews to determine

trends regarding community perception

stakeholder concerns and interests

underlying issues that may impact community perceptions (not necessarily related to radionuclides in drinking water)

Communication Methods, Schedules, and Evaluation

Based on the analysis of data gathered during the interview process, develop a communication/outreach action plan that includes the most effective methods for communicating with the community as identified by the community. Be sure to include both involvement/dialogue opportunities and informational materials. Some common tools to be considered include:

Involvement and Dialogue

community advisory groups

roundtable discussion groups

one-on-one Meetings

small group meetings

availability/poster sessions

workshops

Informational Materials

fact sheets

informational updates regularly (monthly, quarterly, etc) sent to interested stakeholders via email, snail mail, or any other method interviewees identify

websites