Changes

What is community engagement all about?

We have been trying to find straight forward ways of explaining community engagement and the motivations for considering it… Imagine a street of houses – you want to ask 16 householders a question – if you just go around the houses and ask them you will get up to 16 different replies. 😉

These replies will be largely concerned with that particular household – they won’t necessarily consider anyone else – and if they do, that view will likely be a perception – a guess about the concerns or issues facing others.

Alternatively – if you work with these 16 householders as a group – not only do they discuss and negotiate to reach a consensus on their collective priorities but it is likely that their discussion and their perception of what is possible will be much more sophisticated – and coherent. If you are working with them they should also get a realistic picture of the constraints that you are working within.

Similarly – just one person making connections with groups and communities in this way doesn’t cut it – their manager – and others – need to understand what they are doing, the motivations for doing it and what the benefits are to the organisation – micro and macro.