Community engagement and empowerment are about more than the minimum requirements of consultation and information provision. They are about actively involving people in the planning and delivery of services in a real way, so that people feel that they have an influence.
Why is it important that people are able to influence and get involved in the planning and delivery of local services?
Services in which local people are involved will:
- Meet the needs of the local community and lead to positive outcomes including an increased sense of empowerment;
- Be of a higher quality; and
- Achieve greater buy-in and satisfaction levels from local people.
What is important when seeking to involve and collaborate with local people?
When seeking to involve and work with local people it is important that we:
- Start the involvement at an early stage when they will really be able influence and get involved in decision-making;
- Be clear about the parameters and the extent to which people can influence: are you asking their opinions or working with them to develop solutions? What are the available options? What is the budget?
- Involve a diverse range of local people so that their views are as representative of the community as possible. Take the necessary steps to break down physical and psychological barriers and actively engage with harder to reach people.
- Communicate with those involved and the wider community at every stage of the work. Be clear about who is involved, why, what they are doing and when you will be providing further information.
- Ensure that decision-making is completely transparent. This should help people to feel ‘able to influence’ even if the final decision does not go the way they would wish.
- Develop an ongoing, mutually-beneficial relationship with the community. Ensure that they feel their involvement is appreciated.
How can we involve and collaborate with local people?
The difference between consulting people and involving them is that involvement should result in a tangible sense of empowerment and influence over local services. Involvement should be well-planned and people should understand exactly what is expected of them and what they can expect from the local authority or service with which they will be working.
The Process Planner on the peopleandparticipation.net website shows the differences between ‘involving’, ‘collaborating’ and ‘empowering to take the decision’:
Involving - means working directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public concerns and aspirations are consistently understood and considered. This might include workshops or deliberative polling.
Collaborating - means partnering with the public in each aspect of the decision, including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution. This might include citizen advisory committees, consensus building or participatory decision-making.
Empowering to take the decision - means placing final decision-making in the hands of the people. This might include citizen juries, ballots or delegated decisions.
You may find the following resources useful:
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