EOEP goes digital with Council's Role in Public Engagement course

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a gap in inter-council dialogue, sharing, and learning. To address this gap, EOEP has developed a virtual course to help elected officials during these difficult times.
The EOEP course “Council’s Role in Public Engagement” will now be offered virtually through four (4) weekly online interactive sessions as follows:

• Zoom Interactive session #1: Thursday, June 25, 2:30 – 4:30 pm
• Zoom Interactive session #2: Thursday, July 2, 2:30 – 4:30 pm
• Zoom Interactive session #3: Thursday, July 9, 2:30 – 4:30 pm
• Zoom Interactive session #4: Thursday, July 16, 2:30 – 4:30 pm

The EOEP course will leverage Zoom’s unique capability for participants to go into breakaway rooms to have small group discussions.

Register for Council’s Role in Public Engagement

Why should you register?

An Accommodating & reduced Time Commitment.

•    The course modules are broken into four modules of 1.5 hours per session to make them engaging and easier to accommodate around participant’s work schedules.
•    The sessions are scheduled later in the afternoon to work around council & committee meetings.
•    There is no need to travel away and/or stay overnight, which dramatically reduces the time commitment to participate.

Affordability

• The fee for this course will be reduced from the standard EOEP course fee to $200.  Plus, there will be no travel, hotel, or meal costs as normally required for an in-person course away from home.

Course Content

• Public Engagement is a key activity of Municipalities. The EOEP’s Community Development through Citizen Engagement course will provide an overview of the various ways municipalities can engage with citizens, how public input can be integrated into decision-making, the dangers and limits of involving the public in municipal decisions, and the importance of engagement in supporting sustainable community development.
• This course will be facilitated by Maria de Bruijn, an experienced and highly reviewed EOEP facilitator who also presented a well-received webinar to members on running effective virtual meetings.
• Interaction and learning from fellow councillors
• The EOEP course will leverage Zoom’s unique capability for participants to go into breakaway rooms to have small group discussions (where the real learning occurs) like you do at a normal face to face EOEP course. Learn from others and make connections with elected officials from across Alberta.

We strongly encourage you and/or your fellow councillors to consider this course offering via this new delivery method. If this course is a success, we plan on offering additional courses in the same format. Let’s rally around this course opportunity so that we can justify offering more.