Public and Stakeholder Consultation and Engagement

SYSTRA’s dedicated Social & Market Research Team is highly experienced in the management and provision of public and stakeholder consultation and engagement. The team provides expertise in the design, analysis and reporting of consultations for the transport, environment, sustainability, water and energy sectors.

New transport, energy, water or urban development schemes, policies or services are likely to have wide-ranging impacts on diverse groups of people and stakeholders. Local authorities, transport operators, national and regional governments and private-sector developers need to understand the needs and opinions of these people and stakeholders, and how any decisions they make will impact different groups.

Engagement and consultation with a wide range of potential stakeholders is therefore key to scheme, policy and project lifecycles, with insights necessary to inform scheme design and appraisal, business case development and the implementation of new services that affect people’s lives. Engagement and consultation needs to provide robust evidence to justify new policies, strategies, schemes and services, and to better understand likely responses to different interventions.

Our social and market research specialists advise clients on how to deliver high-quality stakeholder engagement and public consultations. We design and deliver customised engagement and consultation programmes in line with engagement and consultation principles and backed by expert interpretation, analysis and recommendations.

our experience

Discover how SYSTRA provides expert insight and advice to support decision making, policy development and strategy.

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SYSTRA has an extensive experience in the delivery of Stakeholder Engagement Plans and public and stakeholder engagement and consultation techniques, which can be specially tailored to meet the requirements of each project.

Tailored consultation and engagement approaches

SYSTRA’s Social & Market Research team comprises consultation and engagement specialists, who use a range of online and off-line consultation and engagement approaches to reach a wide audience and gather a broad range of opinions and insights.

Our detailed knowledge of the transport, energy and water sectors enables us to develop appropriate engagement and consultation approaches for the required public and stakeholder audience, recognising that technical awareness and expertise may differ across different groups. Our understanding of these sectors also helps us to interpret consultation and engagement feedback that contains technical information.

Public Consultations

We help our clients to design effective public consultations, asking clear and pertinent questions that are easy for participants to understand and respond to. We collect, collate and analyse consultation responses and produce full reports of the findings. Our reports and analysis are used to help our clients:

• Understand the breadth of reactions to potential new policies or interventions.

• Measure strength of opinions.

• Generate new ideas.

• Make informed decisions about how they can best achieve their objectives.

• Build an evidence base to justify new policies, strategies, services and branding.

Testimonials

“Many thanks for giving us a thorough overview of the (very impressive) work SYSTRA has undertaken. It is extremely helpful to see first-hand the responses received and how they are being coded. It is very reassuring to see how carefully logged and scrutinised everything is, and how your tool allows you to rapidly dig into data.” (Airports Commission, Runway Consultation)

“Throughout this challenging project, you’ve been helpful, proactive and diligent. The result is a product that we’ve had lots of excellent feedback on…the codebook is easy to use and the responses are well coded.” (Greater London Authority, Environmental Strategy Consultation)

Stakeholder Engagement

We use a wide range of quantitative and qualitative research techniques to engage with stakeholders, to meet the specific requirements of each project. These include face-to-face, telephone, postal and online surveys, as well as in-depth interviews, focus groups and workshops.

Engaging with stakeholders often requires technical discussions of a sensitive nature. We are highly experienced in using a range of techniques to contact the most suitable people and engage them in the process. Such stakeholders may include statutory bodies, service providers, businesses, charities and the general public who will ultimately be affected by a new policy, or will be the end users of a new service. We have a long track record of engaging with decision makers, senior representatives of organisations, politicians and other stakeholders about sensitive issues.

Innovative approach to problem solving

Our social and market researchers have a reputation for innovation and a passion for problem solving. We work closely with clients to understand the issues involved and to develop bespoke engagement and consultation programmes to best meet the needs of each project. These could include providing novel engagement and consultation approaches, such as online map-based consultation tools or our Virtual Exhibition Hall, or novel and efficient data analysis and reporting techniques, including through our in-house Consultation Analysis Tool.

Targeted and relevant reports

Our adaptable approach to analysis and reporting means we can report on the findings of our engagement and consultation activities in a way that is most relevant for our clients. Ultimately, our insights and reports help clients to ensure that their policies, strategies, schemes, services, products and interventions are developed to address the issues of all stakeholder and public groups affected, meeting the approval of those people impacted by them.

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