Ken,
I agree with your comments about needing to advance PR for the project. I don't think it is quite right to consider mediation as part of a PR program however. Mediation is an effort to use a neutral party to communicate between people of differing opinions. PR is an effort by an organization to educate and, to some extent, grand stand a situation to promote positive feelings and enthusiasm from another group, which may have a range of emotions before the PR effort.
I think both need to be done, but also done independently.
Olin.