Public involvement volunteers are people from the community who are temporarily enlisted to assist in developing and implementing a public involvement program. These volunteers can take on various roles according to the nature of the participation program. For example, they might show people around a facility or site; hand out or letterbox drop information brochures; engage passers-by in a survey; answer telephone queries or undertake a telephone survey.
Public involvement volunteers would normally have an interest in the issue or the community, and be willing to assist. Such volunteers will extend the staffing for an event or outreach without a great deal of additional cost. For example, if dunes are being stripped of vegetation and eroded, a public awareness campaign may be needed to enlist community involvement in planning and acting to revegetate and protect the foreshores. The volunteers need to be clear about the purpose of the event or process, and to be well-briefed at the outset and kept up-to-date so that they can undertake their work effectively.
Case study:
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This page originally copied with permission from the Citizens Science Toolbox
