Engagement, co-creation, co-production consultation, and membership development all are high on the list of priorities for many. \u00a0Yet it can feel like an uphill battle to get beyond the usual suspects to establish a genuine engagement with the community.<\/p>\n
Are we beset by a tide of apathy?<\/p>\n
Or a complex web of cultural barriers that amount to intentional exclusion?<\/p>\n
Either way – what can we do personally and collectively to overcome these barriers to engagement and participation?<\/p>\n
To reduce them, undermine them, clamber over them?<\/p>\n
Is it possible to be\u00a0disengaged\u00a0– or are we just engaged in other things, with other folk? \u00a0Do we\u00a0label\u00a0people apathetic as a way of avoiding a real inspection of our own work?<\/p>\n
Apathy historically means ‘free from pain’. \u00a0To what extent are choices not to engage\u00a0sensible\u00a0means of avoiding pain, disappointment and failure?<\/p>\n
How often is the ‘engagement’ that we are\u00a0offered\u00a0really in our own interest? \u00a0Or is it often more serving policy makers and service providers.<\/p>\n
Whether you are on ‘the outside looking in’, or on the inside, wondering why we don’t engage… let’s start looking for clues…<\/p>\n