• 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

Steps in evaluating community engagement

1. Clearly articulate the community engagement program to be evaluated
2. Establish the purpose for the evaluation and who to involve
3. Identify key evaluation questions and information requirements
4. Identify data sources and methods for gathering data

Step 1

Clearly articulate the community engagement program to be evaluated.

• Articulate the activity or program to be evaluated.
• Identify the goals and objectives of the community engagement program.
• Outline the inputs in the community engagement program.
• Describe the engagement activities and actions.
• List the factors influencing the engagement process such as success factors and external factors influencing the engagement process.
• Outline the short term and long term outcomes.

Step 2

Establish the purpose for the evaluation and who to involve.

• Identify who the audience for the evaluation will be and their information needs.
• Decide who will conduct the evaluation and who should participate in the evaluation.

Step 3

Identify key evaluation questions and information requirements.

• Write a list of engagement outcomes and questions that you want to know about.
• Develop criteria and indicators that relate to the evaluation questions.
• Identify appropriate methods to gather information on each indicator.

Step 4

Identify data sources and methods for gathering data.

• Identify existing data sources.
• Decide how and when new data will be collected and analysed.
• Decide whether the research plan can be implemented.
• Consider the requirements for privacy and ethics approval.
• Develop tools for data collection.