About Public Engagement at the PPF

The PPF's work around public engagement can be traced to the Crossing Boundaries project, a decade-long initiative that engaged thousands of people across the country on topics ranging from citizen-centred government to e-democracy. Progressive Governance for Canadians: What You Need to Know, published in 2007, synthesized the decade worth of discussion and thinking.

New Brunswick Pilot Projects

Our approach was first developed and tested by Don Lenihan through five pilot projects in the Province of New Brunswick. The report, It's More Than Talk: Final Report of the New Brunswick Public Engagement Initiative, summarized the findings of the initiative. Based on the report, New Brunswick developed government-wide guidelines on public engagement and has just completed a two-year, province-wide public engagement project on poverty.

Cross-Canada Workshops

Between the fall of 2007 and summer of 2009, the PPF convened some 50 half-day seminars on our approach to public engagement for over 1000 public servants across Canada and soliciting their feedback on our approach.

The Framework Paper

Working with nine provincial and territorial governments, the PPF developed a 35-page Framework Paper that consolidates the most current thinking and practice in the area from across the country. The result is a new public engagement framework that now serves as the basis for on-going work.