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Community Engagement: How to... Guide
What is it?
Community planning aims to improve the quality and delivery
of public services. At its heart is the importance of ensuring that
all groups and communities are equally involved in the planning
and managing of local services. There is considerable evidence that
such involvement often leads to improved policy outcomes. The aim
of this guide is to provide community planning partners, including
community representatives, with help in this process.
How does it do this?
The site provides an introduction to practical techniques that
can be used to support the process of community engagement in partnerships.
Below are examples (with links to full information on the Communities
Scotland website) of some of these techniques:
- Sharing information: e.g. Open
space event [external website]. A themed
discussion event involving up to 1,000 people based on workshops
that participants create and manage themselves.
- Opinion gathering: e.g. Citizens'
juries [external website]. A small
group that meet over a short period of time to deliberate on a
specific issue or topic.
- Capacity building: e.g. Community
animateurs [external website]. Local
people employed to promote and facilitate participation.
- Participation and partnership: e.g. Community
auditing/profiling [external website].
Method that enables a complete picture of an area to be built
up, high level community involvement.
- Ensuring equal opportunities in community engagement: e.g. Equal
opportunities in community engagement [external
website]. A key principle of Community Engagement is the
need to tailor measures to remove barriers to participation.
When should it be used?
Community engagement is necessary both as a response to specific
events, and in order to ensure ongoing community involvement.
Example
Community-based housing associations (CBHAs) are a useful example
of giving local communities ownership and control over key services.
They have provided an important organisational model for involving
communities in the regeneration of their communities and neighbourhoods.
Originating in Glasgow in the early 1970s, they can now be found
across much of the UK. They have an increasingly important role
in providing a vehicle for local authorities to transfer ownership
and management of their housing stock.
For more information
Source
Back to Evidence-based tools index or
toolkit introduction
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