Assessing the Value of Participant Compensation in Infrastructure Public Engagement
Research Explores Emerging Tool in Public Engagement, its Risks and Opportunities
Meaningful public participation, community engagement, and user feedback is essential in infrastructure plans and projects. While this input is critical for building support and achieving sustainable, equitable decisions, it can be difficult for infrastructure agencies and organizations to engage communities meaningfully and fairly, especially disadvantaged communities.
Participant compensation — or paying people to take part in public engagement activities like focus groups, surveys and committees — is an emerging practice within infrastructure public engagement that shows promise for improving participation and representation. Currently, there is no clear guidance or consistent application within the infrastructure industry for when and how to implement participant compensation as part of public engagement.
Participant compensation carries risk such as the potential misuse of funding, perception of biasing input, or negative impacts to organizational reputation. However, there are also risks to not exploring a strategy that could lead to more meaningful and representative engagement, such as the potential for project delays or cost overruns, exacerbation of existing inequities, or negative impacts to organizational reputation.
HDR Transportation Strategic Communications Director Katie Caskey recently completed a multiyear research initiative examining the current state of participant compensation and its prospects. Her work assessed the practice and its broad potential as a strategy for achieving more meaningful engagement.
Caskey’s work, which was funded through HDR’s Fellowship Program, resulted in a decision-making framework and recommendations that practitioners and organizations can use when considering paying people to take part in public engagement activities. The framework helps maximize potential benefits and mitigate potential risks.
