PerceptionAREA is a successful creative model of public consultation and engagement which devises non-confrontational situations to capture the perceptions of targeted individuals and groups about specific issues.  The process builds on the sophisticated techniques of contemporary market research, to provide both qualitative and quantitative information to inform decision makers and those responsible for delivering change to the social and physical aspects of the public realm.

Developed by Haring Woods for clients in both the public and private sectors, over many years the process has been successfully applied to local, regional and international projects. See our range and scale of PerceptionAREA projects here >>

Examples include city centre landmark developments, parks and public amenities, arts programming, county wide consultation, city wide visioning and international environment initiatives.

The benefits of using the PerceptionAREA process to support or replace traditional consultations are: to identify savings in proposed budgets, to secure significant new funding from partners and public agencies, positive PR, enhanced community cohesion.

Haring Woods positions and manages artists with established practices in public engagement to work as part of the interdisciplinary project team. The process is monitored by the project team and documented by the artists to produce a collaborative art work, usually in the form of a short film, a book or website which can be presented to and shared by the contributors and the clients. The creative outcomes and the statistical/factual data support traditional consultation.

It is especially effective for engaging the ‘hard to reach/hard to hear’ members of a community, providing a platform which acknowledges every member of the community as a vital stakeholder and participant in the democratic decision-making process.

PerceptionAREA projects can generate significant positive press and PR for clients and participants, and help to restore trust in the professionals responsible for decision making and delivery in the public realm and the value and power of the citizen’s voice to influence their community.