Creating the right environment in which everyone is able and confident to contribute effectively to the shared team goal is essential for good community engagement.

Importantly, community engagement recognises the need for adaptability to meet complex and ever-changing needs. The shared community ability to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and the challenges of a shifting environment will be increasingly valuable in coming years.

Encouraging Local People

“The Finnish people need a lot of encouragement to take part in activities. When persuading new actors to take part in the development process, you need to be able to confirm to them that their ideas and skills are needed and are “good enough” to bring to the common discussion. It is also a matter of building the self-esteem of the local community” tells Pirjo Sjögren from the Lohja Island Village Association.

“Otherwise most of the people do not consider that their ideas are relevant for local development nor do they feel that it is their “place” to participate in joint development schemes. For this, general information on a development or e.g. events is not enough. Personal invitations and connections are the key to getting people interested.

It is also vital to maintain the atmosphere in local associations and development groups open for new ideas and people. “Everyone easily gets stuck in their own routines and way of thinking. You need to keep your mind open for new possibilities. Your way is not necessarily the only or even the best way” Pirjo continues.

– Excerpt taken from COMCOT Case Study, Bringing People Together, pages 6 – 9

Things to consider for community engagement

Thinking through the following questions and issues will help in the planning and organising community engagement.

• Have we defined the community (geography, households, demographics, any hard to reach groups within the community, etc.) (See chapter Defining Your Community)
• How do we reach out across the community?
• Best ways to communicate.
• Are there any limitations?

Inclusivity ensures representing all of the social and economic groups present in your community. Page 5 details how the Mull and Iona Community Plan was created, taking care to equally represent different community areas, groups, and the main employment sectors by including them in a steering group, who gave feedback on proposals and ideas.

Thorough engagement across the community is important to create a meaningful community plan, which empowers, and attracts participation from local residents.

Continuous information sharing and regular meetings mean that local residents are fully involved in the process, and feel ownership of community actions.

Communications

The Glenbarr case study shows how local residents were contacted and informed about ongoing activity in their community in a range of different ways.

• Informational leaflets distributed to all households, with invitations extended in each.
• Continuous information sharing on a monthly basis, ensuring residents are kept up-to-date with the process.
• Outreach work to ensure inclusivity of all residents who wish to take part.
• The identification of local residents who are willing to volunteer in the implementation of the plan.
• Including local young people in the creation of an informational video, including them in a meaningful, and creative way.

Creative processes are important, as they can be used to reach out to groups in a less formal manner, sparking ideas and conversation which might not occur in a more formal setting. It can be used to get people of all ages interested in the needs of their local community, ensuring inter-generational continuity of empowerment and involvement.

The importance of creative processes is highlighted in the Community Engagement Methods and Techniques resource below, which gives a good overview of these community engagement tools, explaining how to use them and recommending when and with who you should use them. It also provides guidance on creative engagement methods, including street stalls, community mapping, workshops and focus groups.

Other examples of methods that can be used to bring people together:

• Personal contacts (face-to-face meetings, phone discussions) with key people. This has proved to be the most important method for engaging people in the process. Do not underestimate the role of personal contacts, even though it is rather laborious.
• Email marketing: usually on its own it is not effective enough to engage people in the process but still provides an easy method to inform a wide group of people.
• Organising local meetings and describing the aims and methods of the process to a wide audience. Note! It can be effective to join forces with other groups when organising meetings rather than organising one on your own.
• Newsletters, stories in the local newspapers to increase awareness with the wider community.
• Do not underestimate the role of team building in forming your core group! For example, study tours for local key people can be very effective in growing a team spirit among the group, devoting time for discussion, and understanding of each other’s motivations and goals to the development initiatives.

Case Studies