Community Engagement Workshop

1
Community Engagement
Workshop

• Deborah Morrison
• Perfecting Tomorrow Inc.

2
Agenda

• What is Community Engagement
• Definition
• Levels of Engagement
• Leading Practice Principles
• The 5 Ws things to think about before planning
  a community engagement strategy
• Exercize
• The 5 step Engagement Planning Cycle
• Ten Techniques for Community Conversations

3
ExerciseTrue or False Quiz

• __ Community engagement is a
• mechanism for forcing residents to take
  responsibility for their community
• __ An expert is required to carry out community
  engagement activities
• __ Community engagement requires a long term
  commitment
• __ The key to a successful community engagement
  strategy is funding
• __ Leadership from within the community is
  always better than leadership from outside
• __ Conflict is a sure sign that a community
  engagement strategy is not working

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Community Engagement

• Community is like a gem it originates from
  the earth in the form of a stone through a
  process of cutting and polishing it becomes a gem
  is multifaceted each facet a mere aspect of a
  whole that defies description. The seeds of
  community reside in humanity.
• Scott Peck

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Community Engagement is

• Working together with community members and
  organizations to address issues of importance and
  concern in the community.

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Exercise

• In your small group discuss
• What are some of the community engagement
  strategies you are currently using?
• Be prepared to share with larger group.

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Levels of Community Engagement

• Tamarack Institute

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Levels of Participation, Empowerment and the Need
for Support and Capacity Building
Low ....EMPOWERMENT....High Low ....EMPOWERMENT....High Low ....EMPOWERMENT....High Low ....EMPOWERMENT....High Low ....EMPOWERMENT....High
INFORM CONSULT INVOLVE COLLABORATE EMPOWER
Public Participation Goal Public Participation Goal Public Participation Goal Public Participation Goal Public Participation Goal
To provide balanced and objective information to assist the public in understanding alternatives and/or solutions To obtain public feedback on analysis, alternatives and/or decisions To work directly with the public throughout the process to ensure that public issues and concerns are consistently understood and considered To partner with the public in each aspect of the decision including the development of alternatives and the identification of the preferred solution To place final decision-making in the hands of the public
Promise to the public Promise to the public Promise to the public Promise to the public Promise to the public
We will keep you informed We will keep you informed, listen to and acknowledge concerns and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision We will work with you to ensure that your concerns and issues are directly reflected in the alternatives developed and provide feedback on how public input influenced the decision We will look to you for direct advice and innovation in formulating solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible We will implement what you decide
Low ...NEED FOR SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING..High Low ...NEED FOR SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING..High Low ...NEED FOR SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING..High Low ...NEED FOR SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING..High Low ...NEED FOR SUPPORT AND CAPACITY BUILDING..High

• Source International Association for Public
  Participation (unknown date)

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Communication

• Communication underpins all collaboration.
  Effective communication, within a framework of
  community engagement must be based on a pattern
  of mutual dialogue and respect. Minnesota State
  Health, citing the Annadale Report, contrasts old
  ways of thinking about communication and new ways
  of thinking about engagement.

Communication Engagement
Communicate to Public hearing Talk to, tell Seeking to establish / protect turf Authority Influencing the like-minded Top down Building a hierarchy for decision-making Goals / strategic plan Products Public relations Deliberate with Community conversation Talk with, share Seeking / finding common ground Responsibility Understanding those not like-minded Bottom up Establishing a stakeholders network Values / vision Process Public or community engagement
Source Minnesota State Health (2004)
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Trust and Respect

• Trust and respect is the mortar that holds
  together the building block of successful
  community engagement
• Especially important when working with
  populations that have been marginalized or
  excluded
• Without trusting relationships the
  organizer/organizing agency will be seen as an
  outsider

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Community Engagement is Not a Science

• Methods are not prescriptive
• What works at one time, may not work the next
• Populations/community is not static theyre
  alive, ever changing
• Circumstances, faces, challenges, assets and
  demographics are constantly changing
• What remains constant are the innate needs of
  security, connectedness, recognition, meaning,
  and sense of being/self

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Leading Practice Principles

• Effective community engagement is built on trust,
  goodwill and respect. It should be driven by
  principles not shaped by specific techniques.
• 9 principles which can help you avoid common
  mistakes
• Clarity of purpose
• Commitment
• Communication
• Evidence
• Flexibility and responsiveness
• Timelines
• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Continuous learning

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Leading Practice Principles

• Effective community engagement is built on trust,
  goodwill and respect. It should be driven by
  principles not shaped by specific techniques.
• 9 principles which can help you avoid common
  mistakes
• Clarity of purpose
• Commitment
• Communication
• Evidence
• Flexibility and responsiveness
• Timelines
• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Continuous learning

14
Leading Practice Principles

• Effective community engagement is built on trust,
  goodwill and respect. It should be driven by
  principles not shaped by specific techniques.
• 9 principles which can help you avoid common
  mistakes
• Clarity of purpose
• Commitment
• Communication
• Evidence
• Flexibility and responsiveness
• Timelines
• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Continuous learning

15
Leading Practice Principles

• Effective community engagement is built on trust,
  goodwill and respect. It should be driven by
  principles not shaped by specific techniques.
• 9 principles which can help you avoid common
  mistakes
• Clarity of purpose
• Commitment
• Communication
• Evidence
• Flexibility and responsiveness
• Timelines
• Inclusiveness
• Collaboration
• Continuous learning

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Things to Consider Before Engagement

• An organizing agency must be reflective in its
  approach to engagement
• Engagement must not be seen as a sideline to
  everyday business
• Engagement must not be done to satisfy an
  ideological or philosophical imperative
• Engagement must be based on vision, relationship
  building, knowledge and learning and action
• Before organizing an engagement strategy consider
  the 5 Ws

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The 5 Ws

• Who does the organizing agency want to engage?
  Who will benefit from engagement?

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The 5 Ws

• What
• What methods will be used for engagement? Are
  certain methods best suited for certain purposes?
  What are the limitations and benefits of each
  method? What resources are needed?

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The 5 Ws

• When
• When and how will the community be engaged? When
  will the community be available for engagement
  and is the organizing agency prepared to meet
  with the community on the communitys time
  schedule?

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The 5 Ws

• Where
• Where will engagement of the community take
  place? Will it be at a public forum, the local
  community centre, over the phone, or at an
  agency-organized event?

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The 5 Ws

• Why
• Why is engagement necessary? Is it the intention
  of the organizing agency to inform, consult,
  involve, collaborate or empower the community?

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Exercise

• Discuss within your small groups
• What is one area of your work you believe you
  could address more effectively by engaging more
  community members, organizations?
• Be prepared to share with larger group.

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Five Step Engagement Planning Cycle

• Design and Plan
• Prepare and Organize
• Implement
• Follow-up and Feedback
• Evaluate
• Source E\CD Workshops\Evaluation, Community
  Engagement and Partnerships\Five step engagement
  planning cycle.mht

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Design and Plan

• What are the objectives?
• Stakeholder analysis - who should be consulted?
• What are the constraints opportunities?
• What resources are available?
• What will be the indicators of success?
• Decide on techniques.
• Source E\CD Workshops\Evaluation, Community
  Engagement and Partnerships\Five step engagement
  planning cycle.mht

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Prepare and Organize

• Preparing an action plan
• Where will community engagement events be held?
• What publicity is needed?
• What information should be given to participants?
  
• Privacy and information management
• Who will run the events?
• What are the measurements of success?
• Source E\CD Workshops\Evaluation, Community
  Engagement and Partnerships\Five step engagement
  planning cycle.mht

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Implement

• What is meant by implementation?
• Have arrangements been confirmed?
• Do presentations need to be rehearsed?
• What difficulties might be faced?
• What strategies are there to deal with them?
• Ideas for maximizing the chances of success.
• Source E\CD Workshops\Evaluation, Community
  Engagement and Partnerships\Five step engagement
  planning cycle.mht

27
Follow-up and Feedback

• Why give feedback and follow up?
• When should feedback and follow up occur?
• How should feedback be given?

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Evaluate

• What are the benefits of evaluation?
• What might an evaluation consider?
• Have evaluation techniques been selected?
• If not, then develop and implement an effective
  evaluation strategy based on the above and
  further reading.
• Source E\CD Workshops\Evaluation, Community
  Engagement and Partnerships\Five step engagement
  planning cycle.mht

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Community Conversations

• Ten Techniques for Community Conversations
• Conversation Cafes
• Peer to Peer Conversations
• The Top 100 Partners Exercise
• Future Search Meetings
• Open Space Conversations
• Appreciative Enquiries
• Common meaning Questionnaires
• Food, Movies, and Conversations

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations1 -
Conversation Cafes

• All change begins with people conversing,
  exchanging ideas, feelings, and thoughts
• Provide the chance to voice personal stories,
  hopes and fears with each other
• TIPS FOR A GREAT CONVERSATION
• Focus on the important stuff
• Accept and acknowledge each person as an equal
• Speak with your heart and mind
• Watch for and eliminate judgements
• Listen, understand and open to new vistas and
  abandon pre-conceived notions
• Breathe deep to provide time for thinking and
  reflection
• Share collective discoveries

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations1 -
Conversation Cafes

• Plan an entertaining environment decorations,
  tunes, good lighting and refreshments
• Create menu of open ended questions
• Have at least 2 rounds of table conversations
  related to topics of interest
• Aim for a holistic flow avoiding a business or
  formal approach that can hamper the spirit of
  conversation
• Debrief the event together by regrouping to
  original table and have the groups spend fifteen
  minutes identifying three to five ideas to share
  with the larger group

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations2
Peer to Peer Conversation

• Peer to Peer Conversation
• Ideas gathered from peers often exceed abilities
  of top consultants
• STEPS FOR A PEER TO PEER CONVERSATION
• Questioner share a challenge or issue and ask for
  specific feedback
• Peers ask precise questions for clarification
  and details for 10 minutes and then another 10
  minutes on how and why questions.
• Questioner is to sit, listen for 30 minutes
  without speaking while peers discuss the issue
• End with a reflection by questioner on what was
  learned
• Share ideas gleaned from peer input and
  conversations

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations3
The Top 100 Partners Exercise

• The Top 100 Partners Exercise
• Who are the top 100 people or organizations most
  able to create changes?
• STEPS TO HOLD THE 100 PARTNERS EXERCISE
• Name potentially interested and suitable
  candidates
• Rank your list by sector
• Rank your list by specific criteria
• Research your prospect list to priortize who to
  ask first. Customize your request so they can see
  the benefits and need for their participation.

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations4
Future Search Meetings

• This is a planning meeting to help people quickly
  transform capability for action into action
• TIPS FOR USING FUTURE SEARCH
• Invite a cross-section of all parties
• Explore the whole issue before focusing on one
  single element
• Develop common ground and highlight the future
• Urge full attendance. Limit part-time
  participants
• Meet under healthy conditions with spacious
  rooms, healthy snacks and meals with adequate
  breaks
• Work over 3 days with two nights of good sleep
  for time to digest everything
• Ask for voluntary public commitments to specific
  next steps before people leave
• Formulating the questions is very important.
  Allow input into the questions

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations5
Open Space Conversation

• FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES OF OPEN SPACE
• Whoever comes are the right people
• Whatever happens is the only thing to happen
• Whenever it starts, it was meant to start
• When its over, its over

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations5
Open Space Conversation

• TIPS FOR HOLDING AN OPEN SPACE CONVERSATION
• Allow people the space and time to grow familiar
  with each other
• Allow people time and opportunity to identify
  themes
• Trust people to self-organize
• Ensure adequate break out space is available
• Passion is the true motivator for people to
  engage
• Trust people will talk when given the chance
• The Law of Two Feet leaves people free to leave
  conversations if they feel they arent learning
  or contributing

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations6
Appreciative Enquiries

• Appreciative Enquiries
• When conversation is seen as a series of
  connected stories, it can help to seek
  possibilities in solving problems. Search for the
  best in people, organizations and the world
  around as opposed problem seeking, diagnosing and
  fixing.
• Essentially appreciative enquiry reframes
  conversations away from problems to ones seeking
  possibilities
• Adapt to whatever works for the group, taking
  notes on success stories, opportunities and
  possibilities

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The Cycle of Appreciative Inquiry

• DEFINITION Decide what to learn about.
• DELIVERY DESTINY Create the appropriate
  innovations based on the hypotheses of the
  previous phase.
• DISCOVERY Conduct an inquiry into the topic and
  assemble learnings.
• DREAM Generalize those learnings into an image
  of how the organization would function if those
  learnings were fully alive.
• DESIGN Develop hypotheses about how to translate
  these learnings into the organizations social
  architecture.
• Source Pegasus Communications, Inc. PL-2020

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations7
Common Meaning Questionnaires

• What needs to be said will be communicated when
  listeners are ready to hear
• Questionnaires help find the common meaning
• TIPS FOR USING COMMON MEANING QUESTIONNAIRES
• Deconstruct a purpose statement by creating a
  meaning question for each significant concept
• Common meaning is a unique approach for people to
  then be deliberate and focused on exploring
  common words and concepts building common
  understanding
• A great method for forming new collaboratives

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7 Common Meaning Questionnaires

• Example - When bringing people together with
  diverse backgrounds, the following questions
  might be helpful as a guide
• What does together mean to me
• What does building mean to me
• What does together, building mean to me
• What does vibrant mean to me
• What does world class mean to me
• What does community mean to me
• What does art community mean to me
• What does a vibrant world-class arts community
  mean to me
• Below, using all of the colours available, draw
  your vision of a world-class community
• Describe your picture
• Use three words to describe the feelings your
  picture evokes
• Share three ideas we could do together to realize
  your vision

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations8
Food, Movies and Conversations

• A progressive dinner and for each course at
  various community locations like schools,
  daycares, cultural centers, hospitals,
  collaborative kitchens etc. Huddle with
  colleagues to ask one simple question What does
  this experience mean for our work?
• Have a wealthy, influential person invite people
  to dinner, introduce your work, announce why he
  or she supports the work and then you present
  more about the issue over dessert. Everyone
  converses.
• Potlucks create the best conversations. Bringing
  food to share opens hearts.
• Movies also open the heart and mind to
  stimulating fascinating conversations. Find a
  suitable movie for the topic needing discussion,
  set out the popcorn in a comfortable environment
  along with markers and flipcharts

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations9
Giving Voice to Photos

• Photography can amplify visions and experiences
• There are three goals
• Enable people to record and reflect on their
  communitys strengths and problems.
• Promote dialogue about important issues
• Engage policy makers to learn that the experts
  and the grassroots people may disagree on what is
  important
• TIPS FOR USING PHOTOS TO HOLD CONVERSATION
• Distribute cameras
• Each person takes many pictures which have
  meaning to the photographer
• If no time, you can organize a treasure hunt
  around a theme and have people take pictures
• As people think about the issue, they explain why
  they took the photos they did.

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations10
Building Learning Communities

• This type of community is where people naturally
  create a learning community as they work, learn
  and plan together towards achieving a better
  community. There are three key areas to the basic
  structure of a community of practice
• Domain creating a common identity
• Community include the people who care about and
  interact with the issues related to the domain.
  The community creates the social fabric of
  learning
• Practice this is the specific knowledge that
  the community develops, shares and maintains

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Ten Techniques for Community Conversations10
Building Learning Communities

• In a learning community, leaders might
  experience
• a sense of common goals as they spend time
  together sharing stories, experiences, and
  insights
• Generative learning moving from a place of
  association to trust. A trusting space is
  developed and a state of common inquiry
• Turning answers into questions every learner is
  a teacher and vice versa. Every interaction is an
  opportunity to evoke generative learning

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Profile of Techniques
Highlighted techniques Some other techniques
1. Inform Meeting Public notice Website Written Discussion paper Exhibition Promotion
2. Consult Citizens panel Community information and feedback session Facilitation Focus group meeting Public hearing Questionnaire Website Community needs analysis Networking Strategic questioning
3. Involve Facilitation Planning focus meeting Precinct committee Networking Review session Strategic questioning
4. Collaborate Advisory committee Charette Facilitation Policy round table Regional forum Search conference Strategic questioning
5. Empower Citizens jury Search Conference Joint venture
Source http//tamarackcommunity.ca/g3s136.html
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Exercise

• Using the 5 Ws and the scenario provided create
  a community engagement strategy within your small
  group.

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Rules of EngagementJim Diers

• Have fun
• Start where people are
• Strive for results
• Utilize Peoples strengths
• Celebrate success and recognize caring neighbours

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• Deborah Morrison
• Perfecting Tomorrow Inc.
• 780 490-6645
• perfectingtomor_at_shaw.ca

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Scenario 1

• The Federal Government has recognized the
  importance of raising the literacy levels of
  Canadians. They have asked each municipality for
  a proposal outlining how they will go about
  achieving increased literacy levels in their
  community.
• As the Family Literacy Coordinator in your
  municipality you have been charged with creating
  such a proposal.
• You have decided it would be wise to engage the
  community in this discussion as it is a community
  wide issue.

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Scenario 2

• There has been a great influx of new immigrants
  into your community. The youth attending high
  schools are placed according to age not ability.
  Many become frustrated since they do not know the
  English language and therefore are not achieving
  success at school. They have been dropping out.
• These youth are being targeted by drug dealers.
  Many, feeling they have no better prospects, find
  themselves as members of gangs dealing drugs.
• The police chief recognizing this issue as a
  community wide issue asks you as the E.D. of a
  successful youth serving agency to create a plan
  for addressing it.