Apply by August 16, 2024

IAP2 Canada Seeks Consultant Proposals for an Engagement Consultant

IAP2 Canada is seeking an Engagement Consultant to support the adaptation and implementation of these international engagement materials for Canadian community members. This initiative aims to foster meaningful engagement with key communities, ensuring their perspectives enrich the broader international process.

Description of IAP2 Canada

IAP2 Canada is an association dedicated to advancing the practice of public participation (P2) among professionals across Canada and globally. Comprising over 1000 members from diverse sectors such as government (local, provincial, federal), education, healthcare, energy (power, oil & gas, renewable energy, mining & forestry), non-profit, academia, infrastructure, and property development, IAP2 Canada fosters collaboration among professionals, citizens, academics, and decision-makers to ensure inclusive decision-making processes. Members are actively engaged through various volunteer opportunities, including serving on boards, steering committees for conferences, contributing to newsletters and webinars, thereby expanding their professional network and knowledge base.

Description of the Project

The IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation helps define how the public engages in participation processes worldwide. \We are conducting an international review to assess current Spectrum usage, its evolution over the past three decades, and its alignment with contemporary practices. This review will also consider the cultural, economic, and social diversity across different regions of IAP2.

An international Project Team is leading this review and engagement effort, and facilitating online engagements open to the entire IAP2 community worldwide. The team is developing engagement materials for IAP2 Regions to conduct additional activities, with input feeding into the international review and subsequent recommendations.

Overview of the Role

Review International Engagement Materials:

• Understand and review existing international engagement materials.
• Adjust the Canadian engagement plan based on the international process

Community Member Mapping and Engagement Strategy:

• Identify key communities, groups, and parties relevant to the engagement process.
• Develop a community members map outlining primary community members and their influence.
• Recommend appropriate methods and levels of engagement based on community members mapping.

Engagement Implementation:

• Develop a comprehensive engagement plan for a 6-8 week period (late August to December).
• Coordinate and host engagement activities tailored to community members groups including dialogue sessions, workshops, surveys, and other relevant engagement methods.
• Engage with membership at the 2024 North American Conference (NAC) in Ottawa.
• Ensure engagement activities are inclusive, accessible, and effective in gathering diverse perspectives.

Consolidation and Reporting:

• Collect and consolidate community members' input and feedback.
• Analyze and summarize findings to provide actionable insights to the project team.
• Prepare reports or presentations summarizing overall community members opinions and recommendations.

*Timeframes, scope, and details are evolving as the project progresses; Candidates should be prepared to be flexible and adaptable to shifting timelines.

Timeline:

Late August to December: Engage community members through coordinated activities over a 6-8 week period with richer engagement in August/September and a secondary phase aligned with the NAC.

Deliverables:

• Adapted Canadian engagement strategy and materials.
• Community member mapping report and engagement plan.
• Documentation of engagement activities and outcomes.
• Final report summarizing community members feedback and recommendations.

Budget

The IAP2 Canada Board has set a budget of $10,000 to complete the engagement consultation. Expenses related to conducting the engagement (translation of materials, etc.) will be reimbursed to a maximum of $3,000.

Criteria That Will Be Used to Evaluate Proposals

• Experience, Capacity, and Track Record (50%)
• Flexibility and Adaptability (25%)
• Communication and Collaboration with Diverse Groups (25%)

Please limit your proposal to 5 pages. A maximum of 5 additional pages of Appendices will be accepted.

The Process

IAP2 Canada distributes the call for proposals (July 2024).

Interested parties must respond by August 9, 2024.

Include information about your business/company and please respond to the following questions:

1. Please describe your level of bilingualism.
2. Describe your experience with similar projects involving international community members engagement and public participation processes.
3. What are some strategies or criteria you consider when ‘right-sizing’ an engagement project? Provide examples of projects where you have adapted materials to suit regional or national contexts.
4. How do you plan to conduct community members mapping to identify key communities, groups, and parties relevant to the Canadian engagement process? and how will you ensure that engagement activities are inclusive, accessible, and effective in gathering diverse perspectives?
5. Please include some of the challenges you foresee of this work and how you'll address them.

Please address each area of the scope of services indicating your ability to provide support as part of the contract. Also indicate services that you typically outsource.

The selection committee will review all proposals and will select the top 2-3 candidates (completed by August 23, 2024)

If needed, the committee will set up a meeting with the final candidates (completed by August 23, 2024)

A contract will be finalized with the selected party (completed by August 30, 2024)

The consultant hired by IAP2 Canada will be asked to attend the whole or part of the conference to facilitate engagement activities and observe the program. (October 24-26, 2024 in Ottawa, Ontario). IAP2 Canada will provide accommodation and conference registration. The consultant will be responsible for their travel expenses.

Please send Proposals to info@iap2canada.ca with the subject line “Spectrum Review: IAP2 Canada Engagement Consultant Proposal - Your Name” by August 9, 2024 11:59pm PT for consideration.