- About
- People
- What We Do
- Dialogue at SFU
- Consulting Services
- Services
- Our Projects
- Burnaby Community Assembly
- Centering Equity and Inclusion in an Engagement Framework
- Framework for Diabetes in Canada
- COVID-19 and Public Health: The Faith and Spiritual Leaders Dialogue Series
- Burnaby Business Recovery Task Force
- CleanBC Job Readiness Workshops
- Your Voice. Your Home.
- Perspectives on Reconciliation
- Establishing a Chinese-Canadian Museum
- Citizen Dialogues on Canada’s Energy Future
- Clients and Partners
- Get in Touch
- Knowledge & Practice
- Initiatives
- Signature Events
- Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue
- Award Recipients
- 2024/25: Bringing Justice Home with Judge Abby Abinanti
- 2021/22: Reimagining Social Justice and Racial Equity with adrienne maree brown
- 2019/20: Climate Change and Human Rights with Sheila Watt-Cloutier
- 2017/18: Peace, Pluralism and Gender Equality with Alice Wairimu Nderitu
- 2015/16: Climate Solutions with Tim Flannery
- 2013/14: Reconciliation with Chief Robert Joseph
- 2011/12: Twelve Days of Compassion with Karen Armstrong
- 2009/10: Widening the Circle with Liz Lerman
- 2005: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Right to Health with Mary Robinson
- 2002: Environmental Sustainability with Maurice Strong
- Nomination Details
- History of the Award
- Award Recipients
- Bruce & Lis Welch Community Dialogue
- 2024: AI: Beyond the Hype—Shaping the Future Together with Stephanie Dick and Daniel Barcay
- 2022: Facing the Flames: New and Old Ways of Co-Existing with Fire with Joe Gilchrist and Paul Hessburg
- 2021: All My Relations: Trauma-Informed Engagement with Karine Duhamel
- 2019: Power of Empathy with Kimberly Jackson Davidson
- 2019: Rethinking BC Referendums with John Gastil
- 2017: Strengthening Democratic Engagement with Valerie Lemmie
- 2015-16: THRIVE! Surrey in 2030
- 2014: Citizen Engagement and Political Civility with Dr. Carolyn J. Lukensmeyer
- 2013: Building a Culture of Participation with Dave Meslin
- 2012: Riots and Restorative Justice with Dr. Theo Gavrielides
- 2011: Growing Out of Hunger with Will Allen
- 2010: The Age of Unequals with Richard Wilkinson
- Jack P. Blaney Award for Dialogue
- Shared Learning
- News
- Give
A Maturity Model for Public Participation:
A framework for elevating public participation in decision-making
Governments and organizations are increasingly recognizing the value of public participation to support evidence-based, sustainable and inclusive decision-making. However, the practice and integration of public participation remains inconsistent across government departments and institutions.
The Maturity Model for Public Participation is a developmental framework that outlines core practices for high-quality participation, and support governments and organizations to assess and build their organizational capacity to meet these standards.
Poor-quality engagement processes can cause more harm than good—weakening public trust in democratic institutions or generating misleading data that doesn’t represent the public interest. The Maturity Model framework builds on established principles in the field of public participation to propose common standards for high-quality public participation, helping to ensure that the time and resources invested in engagement deliver processes and outcomes that are meaningful for participants and decision-makers.
Simon Fraser University’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue developed the Maturity Model for Public Participation in collaboration with the Government of Canada’s Treasury Board Secretariat’s Open Government Team, and with feedback from leading figures in the field of public participation in Canada as well as international external reviewers.
Download your free copy of the Maturity Model for Public Participation to learn:
- Why public participation is a cornerstone of healthy democracy
- The four levels of organizational capacity for public participation
- The five guiding principles of public participation, and standards of practice that help to uphold these
- An outline of how to activate the Maturity Model to assess your organizational capacity, evaluate projects and develop action plans to enhance your practice
Watch Online: Launch Webinar
On Monday, September 15, 2025, we held a webinar to launch the Maturity Model for Public Participation. The event featured an engaging conversation between Nicole Armos (lead author), Aftab Erfan (Centre for Dialogue), Tim Hughes (Open Government Partnership) and Charles Taillefer (Government of Canada). Watch it online now on YouTube!
We Welcome Your Feedback
We have published a “Beta Version” of the Maturity Model anticipating that our understanding of the pathways to enhance organizational capacity for public participation will continue to develop as we work with governments and organizations to activate this tool in diverse contexts. If you have used the Maturity Model tools, we would love to hear your feedback to help us develop the next version of this framework. Fill in our websurvey or contact Nicole Armos (narmos@sfu.ca) to share your experience.
Blog Reel
Dialogue Dispatch
SIGN UP FOR OUR COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE NEWSLETTER
Dialogue Dispatch is our community of practice newsletter where we share updates on our team's knowledge exchange activities alongside inspiring case studies, suggested readings and practical tools for people and organizations working to transform the field of democratic participation.
Read the most recent Dialogue Dispatch issue: