Community engagement involves working collaboratively with groups bonded together by geography or shared interest to address issues that are impacting their wellbeing, using various tools and strategies that build trust between them.
Communities should share their aspirations, concerns, and values with governing entities to shape sustainable decisions that improve liveability.
Definition
Community engagement is the practice of individuals working together to incorporate their values and decisions that impact them into decisions and actions that affect them. It involves cultivating long-term relationships, sharing information in ways that foster trust between parties involved, and addressing issues of equity and diversity between those affected by them.
Traditional engagement occurs in settings characterized by physical separation of citizens from public officials, short opportunities to provide input (often limited to two or three minutes), and limited opportunity for dialogue. Examples of this type of engagement would be town meetings or events where public officials sit on stage and reinforce hierarchy, or provide quick input opportunities such as public comment periods and online polls.
Thick engagement is an intensive and deliberative method that typically utilizes facilitated small group discussions, providing participants with an opportunity to debate multiple views, policies or options in depth and detail. It may involve hundreds of participants over time and take several hours or even months for completion.
Purpose
Community engagement is founded upon the democratic ideal that all residents should have a voice in decisions affecting them, and includes working collaboratively with community members to formulate and achieve sustainable visions for their local areas.
Establishing trust between local people and public decision makers is also key for healthy 21st-century democracies.
Criminal justice system leaders can benefit from developing an engaging community engagement program to address many of their challenges, such as understanding people impacted by their work, addressing any gaps in racial equity, communicating their agencies’ commitment to public service and building relationships they can rely on both regularly and during times of crisis. It can also increase legitimacy of their work while decreasing conflicts. Use the Community Consultation Action Group’s (CCAG) community engagement self-assessment tool to assess your jurisdiction’s current capacity to engage with your community – use it also identify tools or strategies needed in developing an effective strategy!
Organizing for Ownership
Community ownership allows residents to own commercial property and businesses within their community and avoid the pressures associated with gentrification and rent increases, while providing stability and wealth building opportunities to local residents.
Marginalized groups like low-income communities, people of color, immigrants, rural communities, LGBTQ+ individuals and women stand to benefit the most from community engagement. Strongly engaged communities experience lower crime rates, improved health outcomes, greater social cohesion and are more resilient against challenges.
Community engagement is founded upon the democratic principle that those directly affected by an issue should have the opportunity to actively participate in its resolution, with community participation offering both personal and social benefits. Beyond providing a forum for dialogue, engagement also encompasses outreach and partnerships in addition to providing a place for discussion – it is an ongoing process that demands an in-depth knowledge of both culture and context within each locality.
Communication
Communities with high levels of engagement tend to be healthier, have lower crime rates, and greater resilience against challenges. They’re also more connected, boasting stronger social ties and networks – an integral component of creating sustainable cities.
Communication is one of the cornerstones of community engagement. Be it postcards sent directly to homeowners or flyers distributed throughout a city, website postings or meetings held regularly with residents – maintaining constant dialogue is vitally important to successful community involvement.
Community engagement begins with two-way dialogue and prioritizing listening, and tools like Zencity make this possible when engaging with remote communication channels like Zencity. This type of communication enables government entities to disseminate information while collecting valuable feedback that builds trust while supporting informed decision-making processes.
Effective communication with the community requires prioritizing equity and inclusion. This can be challenging when dealing with populations that face barriers to participation such as gentrification, cultural or linguistic differences or distrust of government institutions.