What is planning? Why do we plan? The practice of planning is deciding what, how, when and who is needed to accomplish something, from making dinner, building a bridge or growing a community. Planning creates a roadmap for success by understanding context and aligning resources and actions to achieve the identified goal or outcome.
The discipline of Planning is applied to a range of project scales, from site-specific to statewide, and, at its core, is essential for ensuring our communities are resilient and offer a high quality of life to residents. Project development, design and construction in Alaska require a multi-disciplined approach; planning plays an integral role. Planning incorporates expertise in land use, zoning, transportation, infrastructure, economics, demographics, environment, sustainability, recreation and applied community engagement to ensure a comprehensive awareness is applied throughout project development.
Planning has many benefits, which include establishing or understanding the ground rules for development; promoting safety and efficiency; protecting cultural and environmental resources; protecting property values; saving money; and enabling the public to help shape their community. Planning sets a project up to be successful (as they say, “failing to plan is planning to fail”) and when applied throughout a project, planning provides contextual frameworks for effective decision making.
1. Ensuring the “Why” Stays at the Center: Real-World Problem Identification
The power of understanding the core problem.
When presented with a community issue many people instinctively go to problem solving and solutions. Skilled planners help press pause to identify the heart of the issue. Clear problem identification means understanding WHY the project exists and the real-world challenges it seeks to address, and ensures we understand the whole story, history and current context of the project, plan or design. Once the why is defined, planners are charged with keeping it at the forefront of decision making throughout project development. This is fundamental to a project’s long-term success as it aligns the project’s objectives with community needs and practical realities.
How R&M exemplifies this approach.
When tasked with developing the Minnesota and I and L Streets Corridor Plan, we began by identifying the issues that elevated this project to a priority for Anchorage Metropolitan Area Transportation Solutions (AMATS) and the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (DOT&PF). At the heart of the issues was safety for the corridor’s non-motorized users, specifically long distances between designated crossings for pedestrians or bicyclists. We also discovered through work with our project-specific Advisory Group, local businesses, user groups and community council representatives, that the corridor is trying to be “everything for everyone all at once,” which means it cannot effectively do a good job for any one user.
2. Process and Purpose: Facilitating Effective Project Processes
Building a structured and purposeful process.
Planning isn’t just about creating a blueprint to accomplish the end goal – it is also about making sure the process is effective and transparent. A good planning process keeps everyone aligned, stakeholders, project owners and the project team, making sure actions are purposeful, efficient and directed at the same goal (remember the why).
Planning is a processed focused endeavor without a predetermined outcome and is best supported by iterative stakeholder involvement, which inherently creates transparency. Most Planning processes include:
- Define vision and set goals for the project.
- Assess current conditions and situations.
- Identify project needs and problems to be solved.
- Project or forecast future needs/demands (such as population, employment, traffic, etc.).
- Identify alternative/solution scenarios.
- Evaluate alternatives to the identified problems.
- Select the preferred solution or alternative.
- Implement the preferred solution/alternative.
3. Stakeholder Engagement: Bringing the Right People in at the Right Time
Engagement is key to project success.
Critical to the success of any project or plan is stakeholder engagement -ensuring the right people are brought into the process at the right time. Stakeholders provide valuable input so the project is relevant, feasible and supported. Stakeholders may include members of a community, landowners, business interests, government and agency representatives, and internal project contributors. They provide key context, history, insights and help to identify issues, future demands and needs, develop appropriate solutions and may become project champions and implementers. While each project, its context and stakeholders are unique, the need for consistent and agile engagement approaches is not.
R&M often applies a Systematic Development of Informed Consent (SDIC) approach to stakeholder engagement, especially on controversial projects. SDIC focuses on identifying potentially affected stakeholders (PAIs) and their most critical issues right out of the gate. The approach focuses on individuals most likely to oppose the project and continually working with them through an iterative process until all issues are resolved. This is not the same as working towards consensus since stakeholders all hold different values based on their involvement and history related to the project. Our goal with SDIC engagement, is to achieve acceptance of the project by PAIs with the understanding there are tradeoffs that will minimize impacts.
R&M’s approach to stakeholder engagement.
An example best practice that R&M successfully implemented is use of a demonstration project for a roundabout project in Fairbanks. The trucking industry was opposed to the proposed roundabout until we demonstrated their specialty large trucks can navigate the turns. We invited companies to bring their biggest rigs and test drive the design at a ‘truck trial’, where the roundabout was marked on a large vacant lot. The truck trial informed design changes and received trucking industry support.
Examples of other engagement best practices we use to inform projects and plan development include:
- Stakeholder advisory committees to help the project team make decisions for every phase, online surveys to gauge issues, needs and community vision.
- Online and in person intercept surveys to understand demand and needs.
- Working with local community councils and user groups.
- Workshops and public meetings to inform and educate the public.
- Going to public gatherings such as farmer’s markets and community events.
- Walk and bike audits to understand users’ perspective.
- Storytelling to understand the history and context.
- Consistent agency coordination.
4. Technical Planners Who Do Public Involvement: Bridging the Gap Between Technical and Public Needs
Understanding the technical and community context.
Planners with technical expertise can translate the details of a project in a way the greater community can understand. They present project information in clear, concise and approachable formats and use their technical expertise to collaborate with other team members to determine the best timing for public and stakeholder involvement so it’s meaningful and effective for all parties. Technical planners also understand public concerns and effectively communicate them back to other discipline professionals impacting project outcomes. Planners are the bridge between specialized knowledge and public understanding; their direct involvement results in projects more likely to meet community needs and technical requirements and garner lasting support.
R&M’s unique expertise.
Our technical planners are also trailed public engagement specialists. Working closely with engineers, architects, surveyors, and other professional services, we help identify key milestones for public input and frame technical information in accessible formats. Projects like the Matanuska Electric Association (MEA) Parks Substation have benefitted from this dual-capacity approach.
5. The Magic of Planning: Making Projects Happen Against All Odds
Planning is about relationships and getting results.
The magic of planning is setting a project up for success from the beginning. It connects people and project elements to complete the project or plan puzzle. Planners are strategists, facilitators, mediators and problem-solvers, who use a comprehensive lens of technical and emotional intelligence skills. Planners often have the task of identifying external risks outside of the project’s control and developing proactive approaches to ensure these risks are minimized or mitigated. Good planning fosters collaboration and communication to overcome obstacles, coordination between diverse groups, and ensures projects stay on track, within schedule and budget – essentially making “miracles” happen to keep progress moving forward.
How R&M excels in this area.
During project development, it’s sometimes necessary to take a step back, listen to the most vocal opponents and redefine the ‘why’ before pushing forward to technical solutions. Our team took this approach with planning, permitting and constructing a utility substation project that was one of the oldest in the community by emphasizing to opponents the substation’s history and reminding them of the advocate who helped initially get power to the community so it could grow and develop more than 50 years ago.
The overall impact of planning on project success.
Good, effective planning sets the foundation for a successful project. It provides a structured, thoughtful approach to reach the end goal of the project. Good planning ensures everyone involved understands what needs to be done, how it will be accomplished and that goals are aligned with community values. By carefully planning and strategizing from the start, you can identify potential obstacles and allocate resources effectively. Using technical planning professionals experienced in public engagement provides a transparent, meaningful and effective public engagement process resulting in successful projects everyone can understand and accept.
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