Calgary, AB,
23
March
2016
|
13:23
America/Denver

City of Calgary Launches Online Engagement Portal

March 23, 2016

Calgary, AB – The City of Calgary is launching a new online “Engage portal.” This site will give citizens and stakeholders an opportunity to have purposeful and meaningful dialogue on City projects which will be used to help influence decisions.

This new site offers flexibility so citizens can participate at a time and location most convenient for them. This site is participant focused, in that it presents information and collects input together in one place. Depending on the needs of the project and stakeholders, The City has a variety of methods to facilitate engagement, including workshops, pop-up booths, the Engage bus, open houses, etc. Citizens and stakeholders have often said they do not have time to participate due to their busy lives; the Engage portal is available 24/7 as an engagement alternative.

“This is a new way for Calgarians to learn about and provide input on City projects,” said Cindy Pickett, Director of Customer Service and Communications at The City. “It’s an intuitive, easy-to-use platform, and I’m excited about the opportunity Calgarians will now have to discuss City initiatives.”

City Council approved, through the 2015-2018 Action Plan, several initiatives to advance engagement at The City. The Engage portal has been under development for over six months as part of the capital program. The BRT program is the first City project to use this new online platform, which is augmented with the option of participating directly on the site, calling 311, or submitting a video. All current engagement projects that are planning to utilize online engagement are being moved to this site.

“The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) program contains initiatives that impact all Calgarians, and is a key connector for the long-term transportation network for Calgarians,” says Michael Thompson, Director of Transportation Infrastructure. “We are proud to be the initial project for this new tool, and encourage all Calgarians to check out the BRT program page on the Engage portal.”

Features of the online Engage portal include:

  • Background information on projects
  • Project timelines
  • Social sharing buttons
  • Map-based commenting
  • Polling
  • Slide shows / videos / maps
  • Image / document gallery
  • Project updates
  • Comment forums, feedback forms
  • What We Heard reports
  • Calendar of engagement activities
  • Designed to comply with Level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines international accessibility standards 2.0.

The Engage portal is available here: www.calgary.ca/engage.

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