Agenda

Never has it been more important for businesses to work collaboratively with their host communities to forge positive relationships based on mutual understanding. Learn now to think more holistically about your project and how you can work collaboratively with communities. Lay the groundwork for success by:

• Developing good process to understand community concerns and how they might be addressed
• Working to develop a relationship of trust through transparency and a sound communication plan
• Understanding the level of commitment required to develop an end-to-end project plan that works for both the company and the community during the life of the project and beyond

Are you or the clients you work with already jumping into tactics without really knowing if they will lead to effective engagement? Would you like to have the conviction to say no to some tactics and yes to others and then convince others in your engagement decisions? If you answered yes, this workshop is for you. Take the mystery out of designing effective engagement. Build a strategy based on it that streamlines a complex process. This workshop will:

• Identify the key critical elements for effective engagement based on evaluation evidence
• Introduce an engagement strategy called “The Five-Minute engagement plan” to streamline your planning
• Give you time to apply “The Five-Minute engagement plan” to a case and determine best tactics to use to ensure effective engagement results

The Walpole Island First Nation is a leader in developing a community-based approach to environmental research for sustainable development. Enhance your understanding of best practices in working with First Nation communities to get projects past the drawing board. Develop an action plan to:

• Create an inclusive development strategy that focuses on both community and company needs
• Gain an in-depth understanding of what First Nation communities care about in relationships with proponents
• Develop strategies for the sustainability of both the community and the environment in your entry and exit plans

Improve your engagement strategy for Indigenous groups to help you move your project forward.

The reality today is that the success of many projects depends on the quality of engagement with Aboriginal stakeholders. Transform your approach to working with Aboriginal groups by learning from a company that has developed a highly successful strategy for engagement. Walk away with an action plan on:

• Building relationships based on trust, respect and commitment that are needed to move projects forward
• Adopting best practices such as New Gold’s Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) and the Participation Agreement used at their Afton Mine site
• Laying the foundation for sustainable operations that benefit both parties

Ensure your strategy emulates a private company that has successfully engaged Aboriginal groups.

A public consultation strategy cannot be successfully delivered if the execution is poor. Gain hands-on insight into how you can train your team to implement your plan for maximum effect. Walk away with a plan of action to:

• Create an exciting training session for your colleagues
• Ensure your team understands the goals of the consultation
• Engage staff with digital consultation tools

Guarantee the success of your plan by training your team on delivering a public consultation strategy.

Go beyond reaching the usual participants. Explore strategies you can use to ensure your public engagement efforts more fully reflect the demographics of your community. Gain insight on how to:

• Develop a transparent public consultation process and build stakeholder trust
• Apply effective approaches for reaching diverse populations
• Involve residents and community partners successfully in local decision-making

Build trust with diverse demographics in your consultation plan.

Millennials are notoriously difficult to engage and are dependent on very different communication streams to other demographics. Reach your targeted audience by implementing new techniques for consultation. Explore best practices to:

• Target the communication streams desired by Millennials
• Establish a mix of digital engagement strategies
• Create a transparent environment to gain stakeholder trust

Develop a plan for addressing the stakeholders you need to hear from.

Privacy continues to concern citizens, and their rights to privacy must be protected. Improve your security and privacy to avoid overstepping the boundaries of citizen privacy. Gain valuable insights on:

• Taking the right steps to protect citizen privacy
• Acknowledging what data is feasible to collect
• How to prevent cyber threats

Advance your strategy to protect the data you collect.

The morning will wrap up with a discussion on what to start, what to stop and what to continue doing in your organization.

Gain insights from your peers and benchmark your organization against others in this interactive session.



There are often situations that arise that pitch stakeholder groups against one another. Navigate stakeholder engagement successfully by learning from those who frequently deal with issues that spark controversy. Create a roadmap to:

• Reduce tensions among stakeholders
• Understand the underlying legitimate issues each stakeholder
  group brings and how to balance them
• Change confrontation to constructive dialogue

Overcome vocal controversy to create constructive conversation

Discover how you can improve your approach to public consultation by learning from the experiences of those involved in the development of social policy frameworks for gaming, alcohol and more recently, the legalization of cannabis.   Source practical tips to:

• Determine how to build awareness of the consultation process
• Identify stakeholders and how to engage them
• Identify what tools to use to gain broad stakeholder representation

Navigate the minefield of topics that cause a strong response in stakeholders.

Employee stagnation and impaired organizational efficiency is often the by-product of traditional command and control hierarchies. Learn from the City of Vaughan’s ‘Dragon’s Den’ style approach how employee engagement can overcome inertia in your organization. Take back to your office strategies to:

• Boost the engagement of front-line workers
• Improve employee morale, culture and cohesion
• Improve organizational performance and workplace attractiveness

Utilize ‘dragon’s den’ formats in your engagement strategy.

Clear communication throughout the entire consultation and engagement process is critical for a successful outcome. Reduce the risk of your project going off the rails by developing a comprehensive communication plan for all stages of your initiative, including the media. Create a roadmap to:

• Determine the level and frequency of communication for primary, secondary and tertiary stakeholders
• Create a strategy for using the communication tools best suited for each group and maintain consistency over time
• Tailor your communication plan to the diverse needs of the stakeholder groups involved

Take away a communication plan to support your consultation strategy.

The conference will wrap up with a discussion on what to start, what to stop and what to continue doing in your organization.