Veterans Crisis Line: Press 1. Complete Directory. If you are in crisis or having thoughts of suicide, visit VeteransCrisisLine. Attention A T users. To access the combo box on this page please perform the following steps. Press the alt key and then the down arrow. It is therefore important to stress that the information and guidelines given in this handbook are suitable for the forest management environment that we currently operate within.
Changes in social values and resulting priorities, policies and regulations are inevitable and thus over time may render parts or the whole of this handbook obsolete. In addition, as managers improve their CE practices, this handbook may become overly simplistic for their purposes. We regard this as a welcome prospect, as we all strive to improve the practice of CE and to expand the range of available opportunities to share our understandings and insights.
Introduction 1 Purpose of this handbook 2 Proposed audience 2 How to use the handbook 3 2. Why community engagement is important within plantation forestry 5 What is community engagement? Challenges facing community engagement 19 Satisfying a diversity of expectations 20 Achieving true representation is difficult 20 Availability of resources 21 Practitioner skills and training 21 Availability and acceptance of knowledge 22 Business environment 22 Continuing conflict 23 Stakeholder burnout 24 4.
Conflict resolution 35 Step 1: Recognising when conflict is occurring 36 Step 2: Analysing the causes of conflict 37 Step 3: Responding to conflict 40 Dealing with interests 41 Dealing with relationships 42 Dealing with clashes of values 42 Dealing with external issues 43 Dealing with data conflicts 43 6. Designing the community engagement process 45 Context and problem analysis 46 Analysing the maturity of the issue 48 Knowing your community 49 Stakeholder analysis and selection 49 Choosing an appropriate level of engagement 51 Information sharing 53 Consultation 53 Involving the public 54 Collaboration 55 Empowering stakeholders 55 Choosing the appropriate engagement tools and techniques 56 Devising ground rules 58 7.
Stakeholder analysis 59 Who are the stakeholders? Community engagement tools and techniques 71 Charrettes 74 Community advisory committees 75 Community liaison officers 78 Community profiling 79 Fact sheets 81 Feedback and information systems 83 Field trips 84 Fishbowls 85 Focus groups 86 Informal community conversations 87 Key stakeholder interviews 89 Letter notifications 90 Media 92 Multi-stakeholder partnerships 95 Newsletters 96 One-on-one and face-to-face meetings 97 Open houses or open days 99 Philanthropy and strategic social investment Public meetings Public submissions and public hearings Role-plays Surveys or structured questionnaires Web-based engagement Workshops 9.
Evaluation of community engagement How to conduct an evaluation process Developing an evaluation plan Collecting and analysing data Interpreting and sharing the data Acting on evaluation results References and websites Conclusion Introduction Community engagement CE is an integral component of modern forest management.
The wider community are increasingly demanding the ability to influence decision-making — demands that are supported by numerous international, national and state agreements, legislation and policies, state-based Forest Practices Codes, forest certification standards and individual corporate policies. The challenge for the forest industry is to not merely comply with relevant policy and legislation, but to fully embrace CE within forest management and proactively encourage open and transparent decision-making processes.
However, forest management is a convoluted process with some forest management decisions not suited to engagement activities e. It is important to be able to objectively determine when CE is required, how to conduct CE and how to learn from the CE process, all of which is covered within this handbook.
This handbook has been developed by the Cooperative Research Centre for Forestry using research conducted by staff from the University of Tasmania and the Australian National University. Research into an array of social aspects of forest management has highlighted an awareness of the interconnections between operational forest management and the communities in which they operate, connections that further strengthen the need for enhanced CE within operational forest management.
While based on academic research, this handbook is not intended as an academic text. Instead, the handbook synthesises the collective learning of academic theories and principles with the practical experiences of industry and community representatives who have generously given their time and insights during the research process.
The content in this handbook is based on findings from a recent study analysing the effectiveness of CE practices used by the Australian forest industry as part of day-to- day forest operations. The study identified the CE needs of the forest industry and the effectiveness of methods used in the field to meet these needs. The study also reviewed a wide range of existing literature on CE in natural resource management to identify further strategies and approaches most likely to meet the specific needs of the forest industry.
In addition to the handbook, several journal papers are being developed by the authors that examine the implications of the study for CE theory and forest policy more broadly. Many CE or participation handbooks are readily available see References and recommended resources , focusing on particular audiences such as government, community development, mining or forestry. This handbook has been developed using these resources as a guide, taking advantage of the significant expertise, effort and relevance they offer.
The handbook provides information and skills to effectively plan, implement, evaluate and adapt engagement processes to suit the operational context and engagement objectives. The handbook includes information relating to what CE is and why it is important for forest management, practical tips for designing and implementing CE processes, detailed descriptions of key methods and tools applicable within operational forest management and an introduction to evaluation of CE activities.
Such depth of information will assist CE practitioners in making an informed decision about what method, or combination of methods, is suitable for their objectives. The handbook attempts to provide practical and realistic advice regarding engagement processes conducted by operationally based forest managers. A considerable amount of theoretical knowledge is available regarding CE and, where relevant, such knowledge has been reflected within the handbook.
Some readers may find the level of theory provided is limited and may wish to seek further information. A list of relevant literature is therefore included in the References and recommended resources section located at the end of the handbook. Proposed audience The handbook has been designed primarily for plantation forest managers working in the field in operational plantation management.
This might include planning the establishment of plantations e. The handbook is not aimed at assisting the development of long- term strategies such as infrastructure development or policy development. The information provided is equally suitable for the general field forester who typically has informal and ad hoc interactions with the broader public — interactions that often require the skills and social awareness outlined in this handbook.
While focusing on commercial plantation management, this guide is also relevant to other domains of resource management, including native forest management and more generic natural resource management activities.
How to use the handbook The handbook is structured to allow the reader to focus on specific parts of CE development, whether these are the basic principles of engagement, or more practical tasks such as stakeholder analysis, the selection of appropriate tools, or how to evaluate the engagement process. Subsequent sections 6—9 provide more practical descriptions of how to analyse stakeholders and how to conduct a CE process.
This includes determining the logistical, behavioural and sometimes theoretical concerns to be aware of, what is a suitable work plan when using particular tools, what are the common mistakes and how they can be avoided. In addition to detailed descriptions, some key engagement methods are described using an actual example to show how the tool can be implemented in the field and suggestions are provided for consideration when applying the tool in individual situations.
To aid in the negotiation of the handbook, each section is summarised at the beginning, with the section content and key messages briefly outlined. More theoretical discussions are located in a box, this enables those less interested in these considerations to focus on the practical implementation of CE, while still providing information for those also interested in the theory of CE.
References to source material, or further reading, are noted throughout as [1] and a full list of references is presented at the end of the publication. Why community engagement is important within plantation forestry What is in this section? With continual pressure from global markets, environmental lobbyists and the society at large, the environmental and social practices of the industry are under constant scrutiny.
There is a strong and persistent call from the broader community for the forest industry to do more with respect to ongoing, open and transparent community engagement CE. This raises the question of what methods of CE are best applied in the forestry context and what level of engagement is both practical and acceptable to both the forest industry and the communities in which they are operating. Important considerations in this debate include defining what CE is and why it is important that the forest industry commits to long-term CE strategies.
What is community engagement? Community engagement CE is a term used to describe the multitude of ways in which members of the community can interact with and be involved in decision-making processes. CE may be considered as a catch-all term in that it is interpreted differently by individuals, depending on their level of concern, scepticism and the agenda they are bringing to the table.
For many people, CE is another term for public participation or public involvement, with the terms often used interchangeably. However, others believe that CE involves a greater depth of involvement, or engagement, in a decision-making process [4].
CE is a catch-all term used to describe a wide range of activities used to involve communities in decision-making. CE in Australian forest management has been described as anything from providing contact information for people to use if they have a concern about plantation management, to long-term community advisory groups that advise local government and forest management companies on local concerns and measures to actively address such concerns [25].
As the meaning of CE is varied, it is important to ensure that the level of decision-making input associated with the CE process is discussed and acknowledged at the onset of any CE process.
Unrealised expectations of decision-making power can result in participants being dissatisfied with the CE process and thus unsupportive of final decisions made. The decision-making process is often more important than the decisions themselves.
Acceptance of the decision-making process is often more important than the final decisions themselves. If people understand how a decision was made and that their concerns were properly considered during the process, they are more likely to be accepting of the final outcome, even if their desires are not fully met [45, 59].
The development of collaborative management committees and processes is often emphasised in public participation literature. In modern Australian plantation management, such collaborative processes are typically not required for day-to-day decision-making regarding plantation establishment and maintenance.
The plantation industry needs to utilise and develop CE tools that best suit their daily needs and fit in with both the complexities of forest management and the communities in which they are operating.
It is important to design the CE process to suit the context. Experience in the field has shown that few people want an ongoing active role in decision- making. Most just want to know what is going on and who to call if they have a concern, enabling them to participate in the decisions that matter most to them. Less engaging techniques such as information signs may suit some people, while others may prefer more input and thus favour a form of two-way communication such as a face-to-face meeting.
Regardless of what technique is used, as long as stakeholders are comfortable with the process, their influence on the outcomes and the way they are treated, they are likely to consider it a good CE process. What is plantation forest management? Forest management is about more than growing and harvesting trees for commercial purposes.
Modern forest management encompasses a variety of management objectives, including commercial, recreational and conservation-based outcomes. Forest management practices and priorities are based on both current science and prevailing social values, it is therefore subject to continual change as new knowledge and new priorities are reflected.
Plantation forest management relates specifically to the management of plantation forests, including tasks associated with land acquisition, planning, establishment, maintenance, roading and harvesting. Plantation forest management is largely similar to native forest management. While the emphasis is on the intensive growing and harvesting of trees, the social and environmental aspects are as important as they are in native forest management.
While this handbook is designed to help plantation forest managers conduct effective CE at the operational level of plantation management, many of the concepts, processes, tools and techniques are equally valid for native forest management. Plantation forest management refers to all operations from land acquisition and forest management planning, to the eventual harvesting and haulage operations.
Community engagement CE is used at many stages of plantation management, including planning, establishment, maintenance and harvesting. Continual communication with the interested and affected community is essential to discuss the perceived impacts of each forest management stage and to work towards minimising such impacts. Table 1 indicates the basic process of plantation development and what CE process may occur at each stage.
The table depicts a generalised forest management process. This table highlights the frequent occurrences of CE throughout the lifecycle of a plantation that is being grown for pulpwood. The level of engagement occurring at each stage is not depicted, as that will depend on needs and concerns of both the forest managers and the stakeholders involved.
CE is important for operational forest management, helping to build long-term relationships with those affected by forestry operations. It allows them an opportunity to express their concerns regarding forestry operations and enables information to be shared among forest managers and participating stakeholders, thus building local knowledge into management plans. CE is ongoing throughout the life of a plantation.
Some of the CE opportunities depicted primarily aim to satisfy a range of mandatory or voluntary regulations e. One-on-one meetings with stakeholders help to build both relationship and trust between the parties, as concerns can be discussed openly and decisions made in partnership. When such decisions are made in collaboration with stakeholders they are often more effective as they are accepted by the stakeholder and take into consideration local knowledge, forestry regulations and social concerns.
Planting neighbour letter notification e. These may include concerns regarding fencing requirements, practicalities of shared game control operations, fire track maintenance and united actions regarding fire control if a fire incidence occurs. Greater community social concerns such as school bus routes or the impact of heavy log truck traffic on roads may be conducive to the use of several CE techniques such as face-to-face meetings with affected residents, public meetings, focused discussions with local government to overcome truck route issues and road conditions, or the establishment of long-term advisory committees consisting of a diverse range stakeholders.
Several simple and practical principles underpin CE. As highlighted in the Principles for engagement with communities and stakeholders developed by the Ministerial Council on Mineral and Petroleum Resources MCMPR [47], engagement principles are a mix of basic common sense, good business practice and ethical considerations.
The principles are essentially statements developed to provide a basis for acceptable standards and good practice of CE. The principles do not typically prescribe actions to be taken, appropriate methods, techniques or behaviours. Context-specific factors — including the engagement process aims, scope and social context — create conditions that require the unique application of CE principles to achieve the most practical outcome [47].
Principles help to steer CE practice, they are not a set of rigid rules, but are guiding statements. There is no definitive set of CE principles; they vary depending on the industry, the society and the perspectives of the authors. This is beneficial for practitioners as it enables them to derive and apply principles that are applicable to their own circumstances.
Careful consideration of these principles is required prior to, during and after any given engagement process. While not all may be applicable in every situation, a greater understanding and practical acknowledgement of such principles can improve the practice of CE as well as the social and operational outcomes.
In order to clarify the meaning of each principle, a brief description is provided below; however, their importance and their practical applicability is embedded in discussion throughout the handbook. Inclusivity Relevant stakeholders need to be identified and involved in CE processes early in the decision-making process.
Being inclusive not only requires that opportunities are provided for participation, but also ensures that a broad representation of the community is able and encouraged, to participate.
This may require that diverse CE opportunities are provided so that people can participate at a time, or in a manner, that best suits their personal circumstances e.
Alternatively, some people are hesitant in large group situations and prefer individual meetings. Considerations of the barriers that inhibit involvement can help to ensure a broad representation of people can participate. Transparency Transparency of the decision-making process is essential.
In operational forest management, many decisions are made prior to the inclusion of the community during the rather closed process of preparing draft forest management or forest practices plans. Being open and honest about the decision-making process, including relevant considerations, regulations and assumptions provides a level of integrity in the process. It is also important to ensure that concerns and criticisms raised by the community are adequately reflected in decision-making documentation so people can see that their concerns or ideas were properly considered and not simply dismissed.
Forest managers need to think beyond the boundary fence when including people in dialogue. Clear and agreed purpose and process Differing expectations of the process can be a common cause for contention when conducting CE. It is important to be honest and up-front about the purpose of the engagement and the process that it will follow. Where possible, it may be beneficial to collaboratively determine the purpose and process to be used.
Involving community participants early in the process can help to develop relationships that promote trust and respect and can help identify alternative management actions and knowledge gaps. Emphasis on mutual learning and sharing of knowledge CE should not only be about informing community members of upcoming forest management operations. Engagement processes should be designed and implemented in a manner that encourage open dialogue, allowing for diverse individuals to share their knowledge and concerns.
CE practitioners need to encourage all participants to actively contribute to discussions and ensure that people can do so comfortably, without ridicule, judgment or undue pressure. This may require expert facilitation in large-group situations or a more personalised approach in individual face-to-face situations. Such acknowledgement does not necessarily mean that all the information must be accepted, as some information provided may be unrealistic in commercial circumstances, or inaccurate.
Building of relationships and trust Forest management is a long-term activity and therefore requires engagement processes that actively encourage the development of long-term relationships. While operations are typically short term, the care and maintenance of forests continues for some years and has varying impacts on the community that need to be properly considered and managed.
Relationships based on mutual trust and integrity are important for forest managers, neighbours and other interested parties for both practical and social reasons.
Practical management issues such as boundary fencing, fire or pest outbreaks are easily dealt with when there is an existing relationship. Social benefits of building relationships within communities include being accepted as part of the community, which further encourages open communication and allows for the easy identification of likely issues or concerns. Changes in forest management personnel also need to be considered well in advance. In the event of forest managers leaving a region, it is often advantageous for new representatives of the organisation to be introduced to the local community by the existing forest manager, who will have established relationships and trust within the community.
Such an introduction shows the commitment of the organisation to the community and provides vital context for the transfer of knowledge between forest managers. What are the benefits and limitations of community engagement? There are many benefits and limitations associated with CE that vary depending on the CE expectations and CE activities undertaken. The key types of benefits and limitations relevant to commercial plantation management within Australia are listed in Table 2.
Further elaboration of this topic is provided in Section 3: Challenges facing community engagement page The rapid expansion of plantation establishment in Australia over the past decade has changed the social environment in which forestry is being conducted.
While encouraged by federal policies such as the National forest policy statement [15] and the Plantations vision [51], such expansion has drawn criticism from many. With contention occurring about whether plantation expansion affects water availability, rural land prices, rural landscapes, or has contributed to the demise of the quintessential country town, there is considerable focus on the plantation industry and its environmental and social impacts.
Regulations, effected through either forestry codes of practice, local government planning processes, or legislation, are increasingly applied to plantation operations in an attempt to mitigate the perceived environmental and social risks surrounding the industry. The regulatory framework does not satisfy everybody, however and there remains a level of community mistrust regarding the forestry industry that can extend to individual forest managers.
Such decision-making takes into account the needs and wants of stakeholders and incorporates local knowledge of both the environmental and cultural context in which forest managers are operating. Many economic and social reasons for conducting CE are described both within the literature and by research participants. Through improved relationships, CE can help to build trust and legitimacy, while also reducing conflict.
These are real concerns that invoke tension and raised emotions that may negatively impact on the ability to conduct open discussions. Poor CE practices result from a lack of planning, resources, training and from a closed mindset regarding the importance of CE.
A poorly conducted CE process can destroy the credibility of any future participation process. Once stakeholders have participated in an ineffectual CE process they may be unwilling to commit time and emotion to future processes, thus making it difficult to attract suitable stakeholders and to ensure full representation of community concerns. Similarly, poor community participation may erode trust between communities and forest management organisations.
Without trust, public scrutiny and calls for more intensive regulations governing the forest industry will increase; people will be less willing to contact the forest industry and may further succumb to misinformation, increasing social tension and disharmony.
Poor CE practices may damage industry reputation, reduce trust, and inhibit future CE processes. Who is the community? In any engagement process the community is crucial, yet there is often no clear definition of who the community is and therefore who should be included in the engagement process.
Common definitions of community include people within a defined geographic location community of place, or community of impact , or people with similar interests or occupations community of interest where people may not live in close proximity, yet share a common viewpoint which they respond to as a group.
It is important to determine and clearly define the chosen community early within the engagement process to avoid confusion that can hinder its development and implementation.
The community is dynamic When planning for CE it is essential to recognise that the community will vary between and within engagement processes. This will help reduce claims that the engagement process is not inclusive and will also provide important opportunities for the input of local knowledge regarding suitable or unsuitable people, the local politics and pre-existing community groups of interest.
It is also important that additional opportunities are provided for people to become involved during the engagement process. The defined community — in other words, the people with an interest in the issues being discussed, or the people living in a particular region that may be affected by operations — may change as the process brings up new issues, impacts or ideas. Thus, other people may need to become involved due to their relevant influence, knowledge or interest.
Similarly, people may move into the impacted area and thus request to be included in the engagement processes. Techniques that aid in the collaborative development of an accepted definition of community include brainstorming, mind-maps and snowball sampling as described in Section 7.
Many people feel very strongly about the environment and, in recent decades, there has been an explosion of environmental organisations with a keen interest in various forms of environmental stewardship. The sheer number of interested environmental or social groups makes it difficult to include them all in relevant CE processes. Careful selection of those groups to include requires openness and transparency to limit alienation and criticism of resulting decisions made.
Multiple points of operation Unlike other extractive resource industries e. Rather than single large sites of activity e. Therefore, CE processes are repeatedly required to ensure that all communities affected by operations are adequately engaged.
In the plantation sector repeated CE processes in many locations and over time as operations occur across a large region means that they require a significant level of resourcing — in terms of time, money and investment in skills development.
The diversity of contexts and breadth of scale present a real practical constraint on the depth and scope of engagement processes implemented. Many forest management companies deliberately restrict their definition of community in an attempt to keep the task of CE feasible, focusing engagement energies on those members of the community directly affected by forestry operations. While this may be a practical option, it is important to ensure that alternative opportunities for engagement are also provided to enable broader communities of interest with an opportunity for dialogue.
Choosing the engagement participants Defining the community requires setting a boundary of inclusion and influence. The accepted definition of community limits who can participate and influence the decision-making process and who can simply observe the process. Once the community is defined, it is necessary to choose which groups or individuals stakeholders to actually involve. This is discussed in Section 7: Stakeholder analysis, and is a significant element of CE design that is often overlooked.
Socially, a broad does not allow for the fact that people within representation is desired; although in reality any defined group such as a geographic strict time and resource constraints often location, interest group or occupation, are not result in narrowly focused representation homogenous [53].
People within a defined that predominantly includes individuals likely community do not necessarily share the same to be directly impacted by the operations values, beliefs or priorities. Communities being discussed. While narrow definitions are diverse in terms of social status, of community can be beneficial in terms cultural origins, age, gender interests and of enabling a fast response to changing socioeconomic characteristics. By limiting the conditions, they can also hinder the long-term breadth of people involved, a bias of interests efficacy of an engagement process as they represented could be introduced, thereby do not effectively consider broader social limiting the legitimacy of the process and the relationships and interactions.
Many important underlying social Community strengths and multiplicity characteristics such as power relations, the Communities are not simple entities; they heterogeneity of stakeholder interests and the are dynamic, varied and often elusive. These to a discrete set of policies and procedures. When the quality of the decisions made and the working with communities, one of the most social acceptance of the process itself.
The actions and meanings are not created independently in interactions within and between, like-minded new social spaces, such as CE processes [20].
Key references It is important to recognise, acknowledge and Race, D. Rural Society 9 2 , — In: Cooke, B. Zed Books, New York, pp. Challenges facing community engagement What is in this section? Unless engagement is an accepted norm within the organisation, community engagement risks being implemented with little substance or sincerity. Collaborative engagement processes can help reduce the impact on stakeholders. It is often difficult to provide opportunities for engagement that are simultaneously inclusive, productive and cost-effective.
Stakeholders can have unrealistically high expectations of corporate engagement processes which, when they go unrealised, result in disillusionment, mistrust of the CE process and practitioners and an unwillingness to participate in future engagement opportunities. Some stakeholders see an invitation for participation as a clear indication of increased decision-making influence, while the forest manager may believe the objectives of the process are simply to identify community concerns, or to develop suitable management alternatives, without giving others increased influence over decision-making.
While information sought during engagement may influence final decisions, the CE process may not be a decision-making process in itself. Achieving true representation is difficult It is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a true representation of the community in any given CE process [55]. While CE processes are important for forest managers, they are typically not important for the majority of community members due to general apathy towards plantation management operations, or constraints associated with time, family commitments, associated expense, perceived capacity to participate, etc.
Clearly defining engagement goals and objectives from the beginning may help reduce tension associated with high expectations of decision-making. While the participation of local elites — those with power associated with social positions, wealth or education — can aid a decision-making process in terms of efficiencies and access to accepted decision-making systems, it is important to engage all sectors of the community, including marginalised groups such as Indigenous people, women, the poor and ethnic groups.
Plantation managers need to experiment with CE processes, finding approaches that reduce the barriers inhibiting the broad inclusion of the community from participation. The use of local connections, empathy and a diversity of engagement techniques can help to reach out to a broader range of people.
This includes the use of informal CE techniques that help to develop relationships and trust, reducing inhibiting factors associated with group dynamics, power differentials and personal confidence [35]. Availability of resources CE takes time and costs money, both of which are often limited within any commercial environment.
Given the limited resources available, plantation management companies are not capable of responding to every concern or comment raised by stakeholders. Most companies utilise a strategic approach to CE, focusing resources on members of the community most likely to be affected by operations and on those engagement opportunities with the greatest potential for collaborative, long-term relationships that satisfy social and business objectives.
The decision of who to involve and on what issues often falls to the field foresters and their direct managers. Such a decision is often based on the perceived risks associated with the forestry operation and the potential impacts on the community, the environment and the forest management organisation. A comprehensive understanding of the community in which forest managers are operating, the management activity proposed and the resources they have available is important when making these complex decisions regarding who to engage with.
When limited resources impact on the inclusivity of the CE process it is important to actively consider who is currently involved, what interests or perspectives they represent and what perspectives are currently being missed. In that way the limited resources can be focused on ensuring that a broad representation of the community is achieved. Taking on an outreach project needs organization. It also means building skills in capturing information, conducting research.
A good base in organizational skills will form a base of successful outreach projects. Our culture is built on connecting with others in society, and we make connections better through stories. ReThink Health also has a Public Narrative Toolkit for outreach skills that includes short videos, worksheets, meeting agendas, and coaching tips for telling stories.
When doing any kind of outreach, ask your team to think about their own experience or those of others and how it relates. This is what sparks excitement and engagement. Part of being organized is identifying your target audience, or the people who you need to communicate with. Even the most compelling story and useful program or service will fall flat if you skip this step. Spend time carefully identifying who you need to reach with your outreach project.
For example, you might target mothers with small children with a sunscreen use outreach project. What places do they visit around town? Do they use social media? Do health fairs work for your clients? Can you partner with schools or businesses? Learn your audience and support system so you can connect meaningfully. Once is never enough. And then do it again. Outreach skills are only one part of the most important skills to build a CHW training program that will guarantee the success of your program.
Have a look at some of our skill-building training courses to think about how they fit into your initiative. Kickstart your health program with these resources.
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