Inter-Council Network

About the Inter-Council Network

The Inter-Council Network of Provincial/Regional Councils for International Cooperation (ICN) is a dynamic network of provincial and regional member-based Councils for International Cooperation committed to social justice and social change. Rooted in communities across Canada and representing over 400 international cooperation organizations, we are leaders in public engagement (PE) at a local and regional level, and are recognized for bringing regional knowledge and priorities to the national level.

Exploring Public Engagement Effectiveness in Canada

Between 2011 and 2014 the ICN implemented a three-year research program, Exploring Public Engagement Effectiveness in Canada, with the following objectives:

• to develop a comprehensive understanding of public engagement (PE) for active global citizenship in Canada;
• to learn and develop capacity about good practices for PE;
• to demonstrate that PE is a meaningful and necessary endeavour; and
• to build relationships and foster collaboration between different actors in the PE community.

This research program was made up of three phases. The first phase was intended to gather a holistic understanding of the current state of public engagement by considering the perspectives of the public (national public opinion poll), practitioners (context analysis process) and academics (bibliography). The second phase convened expert practitioners in seven thematic areas through Knowledge Hubs where existing and emerging knowledge was considered in order to identify and document good practice. The third phase involved disseminating our findings to practitioners, supporters and other interested parties through The Global Hive Toolkit, through a series of national webinars on each content area, and at a national virtual conference held in October 2013.

GlobalHive

The Global Hive Toolkit is designed to assist the efforts of public engagement practitioners working in Canada: NGO staff, volunteers, international development workers, teachers, youth, campaigners, activists, artists, policy makers – in short, everyone who works to engage others on global issues.

Public engagement practices evolve over time, and public engagement practitioners are always facing new and different challenges. The Global Hive looks to the future of public engagement, and offers tools to help us move forward together in our shared goal of engaging Canadians as we work together to create a more equitable and sustainable world.

The Global Hive brings together good practices from public engagement practitioner-experts in seven thematic areas. The material is presented in a few different content formats – from powerful case studies to comprehensive tools to checklists, this toolkit offers a range of practical and reflective tools for public engagement practitioners.

Click here to access The Global Hive Toolkit Website.

Read the following documents to better understand the steps that led to the Global Hive:

• ICN Public Engagement Position Paper
• Canadian Engagement on Global Poverty Issues – National Poll
• Context Analysis Summary Report
• Context Analysis Summary Presentation
• ICN Bibliography of Public Engagement Resources on International Development