This project focuses on modernizing how the City of St. Thomas engages with residents, community organizations, advisory committees, and volunteers. The municipality currently relies on a range of traditional and informal engagement and volunteer coordination practices that could be enhanced through more integrated, inclusive, and digitally enabled approaches. The research and innovation challenge this project addresses is how a mid-sized municipality can improve civic participation, volunteer coordination, and community engagement in a way that is more accessible, data-informed, and consistent across departments.
The project will explore leading practices in municipal engagement, including digital engagement platforms, hybrid consultation methods, volunteer management systems, and inclusive outreach strategies that better reflect the diversity of the community. It will also assess internal processes to identify opportunities for improved coordination, efficiency, and measurement of engagement outcomes.
The overall objectives of the project are to develop a modern, scalable framework for public engagement and volunteer coordination, identify tools and processes that improve participation and accessibility, and create practical recommendations that can be implemented across municipal departments. The project will also aim to strengthen relationships with community partners by improving clarity, consistency, and responsiveness in engagement practices.
The end goals include developing a proposed strategy, a set of recommended tools or systems, standardized engagement and volunteer management approaches, and a practical implementation roadmap for the municipality.
A strong candidate for this project should have skills or interest in public administration, communications, community development, political science, or related fields. Strong research, writing, and analytical skills are important, along with an interest in civic engagement, equity and inclusion, and digital tools for public participation. Experience with stakeholder engagement, surveys, or community outreach would be considered an asset.
Applicants should include a proposal for one innovative idea they believe could improve participation in a municipality like St. Thomas in their application.