No Content Set
Exception:
Website.Models.ViewModels.Components.General.Banners.BannerComponentVm

Services

Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.

Advisory and management consulting

RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.

Communications, creative and digital

Communications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.

Laboratories

Scientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.

Planning and approvals

Development strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.

Project and program management

Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.

Training

Specialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.

Sectors

World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.

Property

Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.

Energy

Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.

Transport

Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.

Defence and government services

Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.

Water

Discover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.

Resources

Commercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.

About us

Responsibility

Services

Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.

explore Services
Advisory and management consulting by RPS

RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.

Due diligence

Economics

Strategy and transformation

Commercial advisory

Transaction advisory

Project investment and finance

ESG consulting

Deal advisory

Explore Advisory and management consulting
Communications, creative and digital

Communications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.

Communications and engagement

Creative, visualisation and immersive design

Social advisory and research

Data management, analytics and insights

Spatial intelligence and GIS

Software development

Explore Communications, creative and digital
Design and development

Technical and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and cities including architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture and urban design.

Architecture

Lifts and escalators

Building services engineering

Civil engineering

Fire engineering

Geotechnical engineering

Landscape architecture

Structural engineering

Surveying

Utility options and design

Urban design

Explore Design and development
Laboratories

Scientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.

AgroScience analysis

Food safety analysis

PFAS Analysis

Environmental analysis

Analysis of unknowns

Workplace exposure analysis

Explore Laboratories
Planning and approvals

Development strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.

Planning consultancy

Transport planning

Explore Planning and approvals
Project and program management

Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.

Program management

Project management

Cost management / quantity surveying

Building consultancy

Explore Project and program management
Training

Specialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.

Health, safety and risk

Training: project management

Capability development and training for the energy sector

Explore Training

Sectors

World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.

explore Sectors
Property

Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.

Residential

Commercial and retail

Leisure and tourism

Industrial

Health and healthcare

Education

Data centres

Explore Property
Energy

Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.

Oil and gas

Renewables

Nuclear facilities

Power and gas networks

Storage

Explore Energy
Transport

Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.

Rail

Aviation

Ports

Roads

Explore Transport
Defence and government services

Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.

Defence

Security and safety

Information and telecommunications

Explore Defence and government services
Water

Discover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.

Water management

Wastewater

Flooding and drainage

Groundwater

UK and Ireland regulated water asset management

Explore Water
Resources

Commercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.

Mining

Waste

Explore Resources

Projects

We define, design and manage projects that create shared value to a complex, urbanising and resource-scarce world.

explore Projects

Brilliant minds finding solutions to complex problems, made easy to understand. Making complex easy.

Brilliant minds finding solutions to complex problems, made easy to understand. Making complex easy.

explore Insights

How to make your virtual consultation a success

Providing a more resilient approach to community and stakeholder engagement, a virtual consultation can help you remove barriers, progress approvals and connect with your audience virtually. Importantly it also makes participation easy for your stakeholders, driving better engagement for your project.

But doing it well means more than just launching a website; Stephen Henderson, Senior Associate in Digital Delivery, shares his learnings of the past six months and the practical considerations for running a successful virtual consultation. 

23 October 2020 | 4 min read
Stephen Henderson

UK

ON THIS PAGE
Contact us

Over the last six months we have all been pushed out of our comfort zone in more ways than one. But they say necessity is the mother of invention and I now know that to be true. When lockdown was announced it meant the traditional route for public consultation was out of the question. However, equally out of the question was sitting back and letting projects stall.

We had to act quickly, applying our visualisation and digital expertise to our experience in community and stakeholder engagement. Our virtual consultation solution was born in April and since then we have been continually learning and refining our approach based on how real communities have engaged with real projects.

 

Stephen Henderson headshot

One size doesn't fit all

Every consultation is slightly different, as are the communities or stakeholders you’re engaging with. The approach you take for each should reflect this, considering the demographics and local nuances involved in all decisions – from the visuals used to the order in which information is presented.

The unique benefit of a virtual consultation is the data and analytics you gain, and you should use these wisely to make sure the content you’re sharing is resonating with the audience. If people are spending twice as long on one board than any other board, there may be scope to make more information available on that topic. Equally if one of your boards is getting significantly less traffic or dwell time and you suspect it’s not landing right, you don’t have to wait until the end of the consultation to fix it.

 

Guide but don’t control the narrative

Our aim is always to use technology and visualisations to give interested parties the best possible presentation of the proposal. However, we must also not lose sight of the fact this is a consultation and not a cinematic experience.

Guiding those that want it through the narrative is good. But it should also be easy to self-navigate for the rest and for me, putting the community and stakeholders at the heart of the consultation means giving them the tools to choose how they want to attend, engage and digest the information.

For example, instead of giving people the chance to watch a project video – give them the opportunity to navigate their own path inside a virtual model. Let them control what they see, from what angle and for how long; give them the opportunity to understand the scheme and how the project would impact them and their community.

 

People digest information differently

Accessibility is a huge part of any consultation and while we are now able to create really sophisticated virtual environments, digesting information in this way won’t work for everyone. Complementing the virtual room with a more traditional website – as well as offline avenues – is a must in my opinion.

For London Resort  we ran the virtual room and website side by side, and every piece of information was repeated a few times in different places and in different formats – including ‘read aloud’ content, meaning the same information was accessible to the public no matter how they chose to interact. Live signers are a good option here too.

 

Keep communication channels open

While live chat works fantastically for some, sometimes there is just no substitute for a ‘proper’ conversation. Give the audience the opportunity to call up and speak to a real person – and make this easy! We’ve found telephone surgeries work well here.

The audience can then choose the communication method that suits them and feels both appropriate and proportionate to how large of an impact the scheme is likely to have for them.

 

Make sure your IT infrastructure is robust

When technology works, it’s great. But when it doesn’t... With potentially large numbers of people all visiting your virtual consultation at once, you can’t afford for the site to go down. Our virtual consultation for the London Resort had over 14,000 people visit on the first day. Doing your due diligence and vulnerability testing could save you endless amounts of head ache later down the line. It may also go without saying, but you’ll need to ensure you’re following robust GDPR practices before collecting data from respondents.