• Community engagement in context
  • Community engagement - an overview
  • Community engagement in a representative democracy
  • Key challenges for the public sector
  • Implications for public sector managers
  • The context for engagement
  • Clues to good community engagement
• Planning CE
  • Community engagement and the policy/planning cycle
  • Project goals
  • When is engagement necessary?
  • Community engagement objectives
  • Community research
    • Media research
    • Community profiling
    • Community segmentation
    • Community and issues analysis
  • Key communication messages
  • Selection of engagement techniques
  • Managing risk
  • Evaluation planning
  • Planning transition and exit strategies
• Implementing CE
  • Working with communities
  • Organisational culture
  • Resourcing
  • Structures and processes
  • Continuity and follow up
  • Representation and control
  • Coordination
  • Other issues
  • Embedding good practice
• Methods
  • Overview of methods
  • Methods of information-sharing
  • Methods for consultation and deliberation
  • Methods for active participation
  • Advanced participative methodologies
  • Choosing an engagement method
• Event management
  • Event engagement processes
  • Choosing a facilitator
  • Structuring the event
• Evaluating CE
  • Introduction to evaluation
  • Principles of evaluation
  • Identifying outputs and outcomes
  • Purpose and approach to evaluation
  • Evaluation criteria and indicators
  • Methods of measuring community engagement
  • Steps in evaluating community engagement
• Risk management
  • Identifying risks
  • Assessing risk
  • Managing external risks
  • Managing internal risks
  • Risk assessment and management plan
• Skills
  • Community engagement skills profile
  • Options for skills development
  • Building the skills of your team

Coordination

Community engagement generally requires strong coordination between agencies. One of the major causes of over-consultation with communities is duplication of community contact between agencies or within agencies. Agency responsibilities and services are necessarily delineated to provide efficient service delivery. Yet these distinct responsibilities lead to the risk of agencies possibly acting as separate silos, limiting communication and cooperation between agencies.

Linkage with other agencies needs to be well managed, to ensure that community contact is efficient and makes best use of the goodwill of community members.

Key questions

Tips for good management

How are other agencies approaching community engagement? What avenues can be used for coordination? What previous contact has the community or stakeholders had?

The Regional Managers Coordination Network is a good way to coordinate community engagement. Flag your intention to conduct engagement activities and develop agreements about how information will be shared. Ensure that issues raised at engagement events which are beyond the focus of your activity are passed to other agencies which may be able to respond to them, and that community members are informed of this. Plan engagement events well ahead of time. Ensure that you and others involved with the engagement process are aware of privacy implications.