Reimagining Community Engagement During the Covid-19 Pandemic, with Surprising Results!

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

Placer County's Environmental Engineering Division conducts public outreach to educate the public on various solid waste and wastewater topics. The Covid-19 pandemic challenged the use of traditional community engagement methods such as in-person booths at fairs, tours, and business visits. To maintain connection with the public, the program was reimagined to utilize social media platforms for messaging. This shift had many surprising positive results. Social media messaging allowed staff to continue to reach the public, without relying on in-person events, tours, or other forums. Use of online platforms afforded the opportunity to increase frequency and message content, and include links to resources and virtual tours, while also using less paper and staff time. The long-term objective of the reimagined campaign approach is to leverage the benefits of additional reach - increasing public awareness and understanding of the benefits of the County’s unique solid waste collection program and increasing public understanding of sewer system related issues. A successful campaign will result in habit changes of a broad section of the population that will in turn lead to decreased sewer system problems, increased effectivity of the solid waste collection program and increased efficiency of staff time.