{"id":136,"date":"2010-05-10T08:27:21","date_gmt":"2010-05-10T08:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/leedscd.wordpress.com\/?p=136"},"modified":"2010-05-10T08:27:21","modified_gmt":"2010-05-10T08:27:21","slug":"community-engagement-getting-to-the-heart-of-the-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2010\/05\/10\/community-engagement-getting-to-the-heart-of-the-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Engagement &#8211; Getting to the Heart of the Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This <a href=\"http:\/\/bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au\/\">site from Australia<\/a> shows how a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmcc.nsw.gov.au\/\">council <\/a>is using online forums to engage with at least some of their constituents on a range of matters including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>plans for varying local rates<\/li>\n<li>council\u00a0strategy\u00a0for trees and<\/li>\n<li>the development of community and cultural facilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This\u00a0particular\u00a0council has a resident population of around 74 000 and participation on the forums is\u00a0relatively\u00a0low. \u00a0Unsurprisingly perhaps, rate variations has got by far the most traffic almost certainly because\u00a0of its direct impact on the\u00a0self\u00a0interest of local\u00a0people.<\/p>\n<p>There is no doubt that the forums have surfaced a wide range of opinions that may not otherwise have been heard &#8211; and some\u00a0clearly\u00a0offer clues to the council on areas where its own\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bluemountainshaveyoursay.com.au\/topic\/what-do-you-think-about-the-councils-proposal-to-meet-these-challenges\">performance\u00a0may benefit from a review<\/a>. \u00a0The forums provide an interesting case study in the\u00a0potential\u00a0and limitations of such online engagement tools for informing\u00a0decision\u00a0making and policy.<\/p>\n<p>However the point I wish to make is not about the <em><strong>medium <\/strong><\/em>of engagement (in\u00a0this\u00a0case online) but on the <strong><em>content <\/em><\/strong>of engagement. \u00a0In this case we have rates, trees,\u00a0community\u00a0and cultural facilities, a planning application and integrated planning strategy as the topics for engagement.<\/p>\n<p>My question is this.<\/p>\n<p>Of the 74 000 residents of this council, how many have their own progress genuinely held in check by any of these issues?<\/p>\n<p>How many people cannot make progress in their own lives\u00a0until\u00a0the council sorts out its\u00a0strategy\u00a0on trees? Or integrated planning? \u00a0Or even business rates?<\/p>\n<p>The answer is very few. \u00a0In most cases perhaps none. \u00a0These are examples of what I call lowest common denominator issues. \u00a0Most people will agree that they matter and need thinking about. \u00a0 They are also impersonal enough to be safe topics for discussion. \u00a0But for next to nobody will they be the really critical issues that hold back individual talent or community potential.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those 74 000 people will have ideas about how they could make a better life for themselves, their families and the community. \u00a0And most of them will have a pretty good idea about what is stopping them. \u00a0Instead of engaging local people in the somewhat &#8216;removed&#8217;\u00a0priorities\u00a0of the council, the council could design engagement processes that enable people to engage with each other, the council and other stakeholders, in their real priorities for making a better life. \u00a0To uncover the real issues that act as barriers to real people making progress in real lives.<\/p>\n<p>If people are to be open and honest about what is stopping them from making progress we need to have a relationship with them that is trusted, confidential, competent and compassionate. \u00a0I suspect that such relationships cannot generally develop\u00a0entirely\u00a0online. \u00a0That they still demand an element of face to face conversation. \u00a0That they\u00a0will\u00a0need real people working in the community with good engagement and development skills. \u00a0They may also need additional reserves of social capital, community networks and &#8216;brains trusts&#8217; that can be\u00a0accessed\u00a0to provide support and expertise as and when it is needed.<\/p>\n<p>Until we start to engage large numbers of individuals and groups on the real issues that they feel are\u00a0preventing\u00a0them from pursuing their aspirations then we will not get to heart of the matter.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps we should stop seeking to\u00a0engage\u00a0the people in our\u00a0strategies\u00a0and plans, but instead seek to\u00a0engage\u00a0ourselves in theirs?<\/p>\n<div class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Posts\"><ul class=\"entry-meta\"><li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/08\/09\/an-imaginary-open-letter-to-those-who-would-engage-us\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">An imaginary open letter: To those who would &#8216;engage&#8217; us&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some thoughts on Best City outcomes\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/07\/05\/some-thoughts-on-best-city-outcomes\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some thoughts on Best City outcomes<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Some Barriers to Engagement\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/06\/13\/some-barriers-to-engagement\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Some Barriers to Engagement<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Getting to Grips with Social Finance &#8211; FREE TRAINING\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/06\/12\/getting-to-grips-with-social-finance-free-training\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Getting to Grips with Social Finance &#8211; FREE TRAINING<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"SPOSTARBUST-Related-Post\"><a title=\"Working In Community Development Today&#8230;\" href=\"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/2012\/05\/23\/working-in-community-development-today\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Working In Community Development Today&#8230;<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This site from Australia shows how a council is using online forums to engage with at least some of their constituents on a range of matters including: plans for varying local rates council\u00a0strategy\u00a0for trees and the development of community and cultural facilities This\u00a0particular\u00a0council has a resident population of around 74 000 and participation on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[19,38,91,115,174,177],"class_list":["post-136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-community-2","tag-aspirations","tag-community-development","tag-government","tag-leadership","tag-regeneration","tag-responsive","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/realisedevelopment.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}