Virtual public consultation tool

An interactive Web-based tool that allows clients to engage and consult stakeholders remotely, has been launched.

The new tool will allow clients to interact with a wider audience who cannot attend in-person meetings during consultation periods and continue to drive public engagement with projects during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Infrastructure firm AECOM designed the tool in an effort to create a seamless digital environment to visualise projects, meet virtually and bring together communities and clients from around the world.

Through the new platform, a virtual event can be personalised to show consultation materials, including virtual reality and sound demonstrations, videos, maps, plans and pop-up banners. The tool allows for instant feedback so public reaction can be captured and saved for analysis and accurate reporting. There is also a chat function to allow experts to answer questions remotely, as visitors look around the materials, similar to what would take place during an in-person event.

The company highlights a number of potential advantages of the use of digital engagement tools, including enabling stakeholders and communities to understand proposals, allowing participants to take part in the consultation process and provide an informed response. The tool also allows the  process to reach a wider audience, allowing for potentially more widespread buy-in for major infrastructure projects.

The Web-based, remote approach to stakeholder engagement during the Covid-19 pandemic provides clients and partners with a resilient solution to any consultation process, asserts AECOM.

The company states that its clients East Lothian Council, Oxfordshire County Council, Public Health England and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, have already signed up to use the public consultation tool.