Specifications include, but are not limited to: We seek consulting assistance in developing a toolkit or framework for our public engagement in planning projects. This includes background research on best practices in equitable public outreach in the planning context and municipal government processes. We are anticipating that this includes searching for and analyzing policies from other municipalities and entities, especially in New England and/or from municipalities of a similar size. It will also include identifying groups, communities, and individuals who are present in South Burlington but we are not generally seeing in our public outreach responses to date. In developing this toolkit, the selected consultant will be responsible for outreach on the Equity Toolkit project itself. This likely will include both identifying and engaging with community leaders and groups (or their representatives) and conducting outreach on what methods for communication and feedback would be most effective for them in the future and how the City can work to decrease barriers to participation. In doing so, we would expect the consultant to be cognizant of the demands being placed on underrepresented groups’ time and resources with so many entities developing equity policies and collect as much information as possible from our neighboring municipalities, and regional and state partners who have already sought information from these groups. The form of outreach would be designed by the consultant and would be expected to place equity considerations at the forefront.
