{"id":215620,"date":"2022-09-13T13:06:59","date_gmt":"2022-09-13T17:06:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicinput.com\/wp\/?p=215620"},"modified":"2025-12-12T00:10:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:10:29","slug":"inclusive-community-engagement-example-hillsborough-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicinput.com\/wp\/2022\/09\/13\/inclusive-community-engagement-example-hillsborough-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive Community Engagement that Reaches Rural & Urban Populations"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Community Engagement Example: Hillsborough County, Florida<\/h2>

Hillsborough County is the fourth-largest county in Florida, including Tampa, and accounts for 14% of the state population.\u00a0 With the mix of rural and urban populations that span the 1,266 square mile jurisdiction, Hillsborough County has a host of challenges associated with offering community engagement opportunities for the diverse communities located within its borders.<\/p>

The Challenge of Reopening Hillsborough<\/h2>

In spring of 2021, the County began developing a plan to loosen restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.\u00a0 With the planned return to pre-COVID levels of activity, the County identified the need to better understand community member perspectives around the reopening.\u00a0 Acknowledging the potential for a host of challenges and concerns associated supporting the health and safety of the community amid the planned reopening, the County sought to collect input that would support efforts to restore and reboot the local economic and community-based needs.\u00a0\u00a0

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The community engagement challenge revolved around the need for an inclusive engagement effort that addressed the diverse needs and preferences of both rural and urban communities.\u00a0Additionally, language accessibility was a high priority for the nearly 30% of Hillsborough County residents who reported \u201cspeaking a language other than English at home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

Inclusive Community Engagement Powered by PublicInput<\/h2>

In an effort to understand the perceived community priorities, Hillsborough County launched a survey campaign to initiate a community-wide conversation about economic efforts, public safety measures, and the general public opinion on topics ranging from employment, recreation, quality of life and business ownership.\u00a0

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In order to maximize the diversity of responses, the County implemented a mixed-mode approach to the survey campaign.\u00a0 This approach provided offerings in Spanish as well as used the PublicInput auto-translation services for other languages that were needed.\u00a0 Community engagement efforts included:\u00a0

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