It’s a concept reporters have seen play out for decades from behind their pen and paper.

A normally empty local government meeting room fills with perturbed residents, a particular issue causing them to be riled up.

That groundswell of people shows up for a few meetings before the issue blows over, leaving the meeting chambers empty once again.

Ideally, we’d like to see more members of our local communities become involved in the week-to-week doings of their government. We also acknowledge that, based on history, there won’t be a rush to go to council and board meetings in the near future.

We do hope, however, that residents in Mars take advantage of public meetings where their issues, concerns and ideas are actively being sought.

Beginning Wednesday, borough officials will host a series of workshops focused on the future of Mars. They will be joined by graduate students from Chatham University, who will lead the sessions and present a survey.

The concept of that survey is simple, yet complex: what do residents want from their community, and what do they want for it?

The discussions have no preset structure or topic. In fact, Mayor Gregg Hartung said he simply wants a “healthy conversation” that will promote “community ownership.”

No topics are off limits, and leaders want to hear about the community’s weaknesses just as much as they want to hear about strengths.

It isn’t often that government officials invite the public to offer their unbridled opinion on a topic, much less give them an open forum to speak on whatever they so choose.

But it is clear that officials in Mars intend to embrace any shortcomings they may have and work to find solutions using the collective input of residents. It also shows they are confident enough in what is already being done to better the community to open up other areas to such criticism. We commend borough officials for opening the lines of communication.

That said, the meetings and surveys are all for naught if the community doesn’t take part.

The first workshop is from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Penn Mar Plaza. The second is from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 16 at Mars Public Library. The third is from 7 to 9 p.m. Oct. 23 at Stick City Brewing Co.

We hope to see packed rooms during those three sessions. Perhaps those discussions will lead to additional packed rooms full of engaged residents at future borough government meetings. After all, it is their future on those meeting agendas.