Background
From 2022-2025, Urban Systems supported the City of Burnaby with Burnaby 2050, a multi-year, multi-phase process to create a new Official Community Plan (OCP) to set the long-term vision for managing the city’s growth. Our Communications and Engagement team gathered input from the community on key elements of the OCP over four phases:
Public engagement was a foundational element of each phase, operating as a constant process of listening, learning, and responding. The outcomes of the public engagement have guided the development of the OCP’s vision, goals, priorities, policies, and implementation strategies. The City of Burnaby’s envisions a “green and inclusive city with safe and connected neighbourhoods and a vibrant economy where people want to live, work and play for generations to come.”
The City’s Primary Objectives
- Developing an engagement strategy and program that was accessible, inclusive, and reconciliation-oriented, with a focus on removing barriers to participation.
- Collaborating with the City of Burnaby’s Director of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation to create a strategic framework for meaningful engagement with host First Nations.
- Supporting City staff in building cultural competency and Indigenous awareness, ensuring these principles were reflected in all phases of the project.
- Providing clear, relevant, and accessible information to the community, ensuring materials were easily understood.
- Employing equitable engagement strategies to encourage participation from a diverse range of interested groups.
- Gathering actionable and detailed feedback to inform key sections of the OCP and demonstrating responsiveness by incorporating community input gathered through previous engagement phases and transparently showing how feedback influenced outcomes.
Engagement Goals
Before engaging with the community, the team developed a clear set of goals to guide their activities. They prioritized using inclusive and accessible language, incorporating Indigenous perspectives, and creating experiences that were fun and creative. The approach was grounded in systems thinking, evidence-based practices, and data-driven insights, with a strong emphasis on climate action and shaping a sustainable future.
Utilizing Various Engagement Tools for a Successful Outcome
The team utilized various types of engagement tools, providing community members the opportunity to share their voice in meaningful ways. This included:
- in-person and virtual open houses
- visioning dialogue events
- surveys
- workshops
- interactive maps
- pop-up events
- written submissions
- advisory councils
- sharing circles
The team worked alongside the City of Burnaby’s communications staff to promote engagement opportunities, provide updates on the process, and educate community members about what an OCP is in clear and easy-to-understand language. This included writing key messages and FAQs, creating videos, drafting copy for social media and print advertisements, writing speaking notes for staff and elected officials at events, and developing web content and engagement materials such as information panels and handouts. As a result of these tactics, hundreds of people were engaged through in-person and virtual events in each phase of engagement.
The Power of Creative Engagements
In Phase 2, “Visioning Dialogue” events were held in locations across Burnaby. These events featured live music, poets, presentations, and refreshments to encourage participation and inspire dialogue about the future of Burnaby. More than 500 people participated and more than 4,000 comments were collected through the engagement activities.
These events were well-received by the community, so much so that although there were only four events originally planned for this phase, two more events were added at the request of the community. This goes to show that communities want to be heard, and it order to do so, we must find meaningful and creative ways to engage that reflect the communities interests and values.
This project built on previous engagement projects Urban has undertaken with the City of Burnaby, including the Burnaby Bainbridge/Lochdale Community Plan and Burnaby Transportation Master Plan.
Want to learn more about Burnaby 2025, view Burnaby 2050: Planning our City Together | Your Voice | City of Burnaby