This guide describes seven principles for public engagement — principles that “reflect the common beliefs and understandings of those working in the fields of public engagement, conflict resolution, and collaboration.” The authors write, “The more any given public engagement effort takes into consideration the following seven Core Principles, the more it can expect to effectively build mutual understanding, meaningfully affect policy development, and/or inspire collaborative action among citizens and institutions. These seven interdependent principles serve both as ideals to pursue and as criteria for judging quality. Rather than promoting partisan agendas, the application of the Core Principles creates the conditions for authentic engagement around public issues.”