The public involvement that was a major part of this project is not essential to a charrette. I believe that the term is used for the same kind of team effort in architecture schools and firms, wherein the professionals and/or students work together on assigned projects under deadline pressure. Some kind of critique or feedback may be involved, resulting in a series of revisions, but more typically on the part of an individual client (or, in a school setting, a faculty board) rather than the general public.