Guest Host: APA Community Engagement Interest Group

Hybrid engagement has moved from a pandemic workaround to a defining part of planning practice. Yet for many teams, it still feels fragmented, hard to evaluate, and unclear in impact. This webinar introduces the Designing Hybrid Engagement guide and translates its core framework into practical application. The guide presents hybrid engagement as a design challenge that requires intentionally connecting participation across time, place, and format to reduce barriers and strengthen outcomes. Participants will explore how engagement choices shape whose voices are heard, how input is interpreted, and how decisions are ultimately made. Drawing on real-world examples, the session highlights both successful approaches and common pitfalls, including “parallel track” engagement that separates in-person and online participation rather than connecting them.

CM 1.5