Key principles of stakeholder & community
engagement
Dr. Joanne Tippett
School of Environment, Education
and Development, University of
Manchester
Founder of Ketso
Top 6 Hints
1. Start early and engage often Make sure people actually
have a chance to influence decision making, don’t start to
engage after decisions have already been made! Continue to
engage throughout implementation & reviewing progress.
2. Start with the positive Look for existing networks & the
engaged (then look for the people not yet engaged & ask what
would help them engage, what would work for them?); in any
workshop, start with ‘What works?’ ‘What do you like?’.
3. Communicate often & through multiple channels Put
information out in different ways & ensure that you feed back
ideas that emerge from engagement & what has been done!
Top 6 Hints
4. Link small wins to long term change Maintain interest and
enthusiasm for long term change by looking for opportunities to
achieve something in the short term, celebrate the small wins (&
communicate about the longer term at the same time).
5. Link the local to the bigger picture Community members
are more likely to engage with issues outside their back door.
Look for ways to link planning at local & strategic levels of scale.
6. Look for ways to align your interest with other groups
Look for ways to connect to other partners & sectors, asking
‘what would success look like for you?’ & see how to align your
interests to achieve synergies for multiple parties.
Value of Participation
1. Ethics (it’s the right thing to do and increasingly, we have to
do it)
2. Effectiveness (it helps us get things done & done better!)
3. Strengthens governance and democracy (transparency
and communication are increased)
4. Opportunities for learning and change (& goodness knows
we will need this to build resilience)
(From Warburton, referenced in Tippett, J. 2004. 'A participatory protocol for ecologically informed design within river
catchments', Ph.D. University of Manchester: Chapter 4)
Very, Very Short History of Participation
• 1960’s US civil rights and war
on poverty movement
• 1970’s and 80’s shifts in
international development –
putting the people first
• Sustainable development,
Local Agenda 21 1990’s
• EU Water Framework
Directive – 2000 ‘active
involvement’ of citizens in
river basin planning
‘Just connect’
Connecting:
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•
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People
Creativity and decisions
Across time
Existing assets and the future
Levels of scale
Sectors
Connecting: People
• Who is in the area?
• Start with the already engaged and existing networks
Connecting: People
• Who is in the area?
• Start with the already engaged and existing networks
• Ask questions – What would success look like for
you? What do we need to do to make this work for
you? (e.g. what time and venue suits your group,
what else is going on that we can add value to?)
Why do people engage? (key themes from
workshop with 58 Wigan Wetlands & Woodlands Custodians)
Why do people engage? (key themes from
workshop with 58 Wigan Wetlands & Woodlands Custodians)
• Satisfaction from making a difference
Communicate what changes have happened &
how decisions have been made
Where possible, show the full range of
ideas developed as well as decisions
“Ketso is unique in its ability to not only surface
new thoughts but also to provide a credible and
traceable evidence base for recommendations
that emerge from consultation.”
Joe Brady, Head of Integration Services
Scottish Refugee Council
Why do people engage? (key themes from
workshop with 58 Wigan Wetlands & Woodlands Custodians)
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•
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•
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Satisfaction from making a difference
Friendship and connections
Health and wellbeing
Education and skills
Enjoyment
Connecting: People
• Who is in the area?
• Start with the already engaged and existing networks
• Ask questions – What would success look like for
you? What do we need to do to make this work for
you? (e.g. what time and venue suits your group,
what else is going on that we can add value to?)
• Ask questions – Who else is not involved, and why?
Connecting: People
• Who is in the area?
• Start with the already engaged and existing networks
• Ask questions – What would success look like for
you? What do we need to do to make this work for
you? (e.g. what time and venue suits your group,
what else is going on that we can add value to?)
• Ask questions – Who else is not involved, and why?
• How do you engage with the ‘hard to reach’? –
language, cultural issues, accessibility (e.g. learning,
communication, childcare and physical access)
Community mapping – visual approaches
Participatory appraisal – hands-on approaches
Founder – Robert Chambers (Whose Reality Counts?)
Image source www.clearhorizon.com.auparticipatory-planningparticipatory-learning-and-action
Participatory appraisal – moveable pieces
Founder – Robert Chambers (Whose Reality Counts?)
Image source www.tradeschool.ourgoods.org
Planning for Real – moveable models
Neighbourhood Initiatives Foundation
Image source http.www.royal-deeside.org.ukRDcommactiveplanning.htm
Ketso, a hands-on kit for creative engagement
Walking tours / story telling in place
Even in big groups, simply getting people to talk to
each other (create a record ideas, show of hands)
Connecting: Creativity and decisions
• Encourage a creative approach – can we think
differently about this? What can we do?
Connecting: Creativity and decisions
• Encourage a creative approach – can we think
differently about this? What can we do?
• Have people actually got a say in what goes on?
Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation
(Arnstein, S., 1969. A Ladder of Public Participation. Journal of American Institute of Planners July.)
Do Community Members Want
Involvement?
MOST
Want to know what is going on
MANY
Want to be consulted and have some choices
SOME
Want to influence policies/share decision-making
FEW
Want to control their Community and Services
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(Davidson, S. 1998. 'Spinning the Wheel of Empowerment.' Planning: 14-15.)
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Wheel of Empowerment
Connecting: Creativity and decisions
• Encourage a creative approach – can we think
differently about this? What can we do?
• Have people actually got a say in what goes on?
• Even when decisions have been made, you can start
with exploring what matters to people, see how it
links to the decisions, and take a creative approach
to thinking of how to make the most of the situation
• Apply creativity to your own approach, and learn from
what you do! Community engagement not always
easy but always an opportunity to learn!
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
• Give feedback about what has happened
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
• Give feedback about what has happened
• Communicate often and using different formats
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
• Give feedback about what has happened
• Communicate often and using different formats
• Review and re-plan (you will always learn from doing,
and you need more input)
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
• Give feedback about what has happened
• Communicate often and using different formats
• Review and re-plan (you will always learn from doing,
and you need more input)
• Look to what has happened before – can you link up
your engagement with earlier efforts?
Connecting: Across time
• Engage early (engagement is all too often too little,
too late)
• Give feedback about what has happened
• Communicate often and using different formats
• Review and re-plan (you will always learn from doing,
and you need more input)
• Look to what has happened before – can you link up
your engagement with earlier efforts?
• Think of how you are making results and ideas
available to others
Connecting: Existing assets and the
future
• Start with the positive, what assets do people have?
What is working?
Think Together Effectively: the Ketso
approach
• Start with a focus on the positive (e.g. existing
assets)
• The first question powerfully sets
the tone and direction
• Brown leaves - this is the soil we
have to grow ideas in
• What is going well? What works?
What are our existing assets? What
do we have to work with?
Shift in power dynamics from ‘I am the expert and you
have problems’ to working together to create solutions
Connecting: Existing assets and the
future
• Start with the positive, what assets do people have?
What is working?
• How can we make the most of existing assets in
future planning? How can we help people make the
most of what they have and build capacity to use it?
Connecting: Existing assets and the
future
• Start with the positive, what assets do people have?
What is working?
• How can we make the most of existing assets in
future planning? How can we help people make the
most of what they have and build capacity to use it?
• Build your own assets - deliver some small wins
early, communicate about them and link them to
future improvements, use them to sustain enthusiasm
Connecting: Levels of scale
• People tend to engage with the very local
• How can you link the local to the more strategic level
of scale
E.g. planning for Moston Vale (local) &
also developing ideas for Irk River Valley
Connecting: Levels of scale
• People tend to engage with the very local
• How can you link the local to the more strategic level
of scale
• Can you create a two way process, to harness the
power of the local in strategic planning, and to get
things done at the local level to achieve the vision?
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
• What sort of issues are linked to rivers? Health,
transport, built environment, community learning,
dog poo… and all sorts of other things you have
not thought of!
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
• What sort of issues are linked to rivers? Health,
transport, built environment, community learning…
• Issues will require action from different sectors
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
• What sort of issues are linked to rivers? Health,
transport, built environment, community learning…
• Issues will require action from different sectors
• See how your activities can add value to / link up with
others’ engagement (e.g. neighbourhood planning,
engagement from police, health, flood management)
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
• What sort of issues are linked to rivers? Health,
transport, built environment, community learning…
• Issues will require action from different sectors
• See how your activities can add value to / link up with
others’ engagement (e.g. neighbourhood planning,
engagement with police, health, flood management)
• Invite other sectors to your events (ask what would
make it useful for them)
Connecting: Sectors
• In any (open and creative) engagement process
issues will come up outside of your ‘remit’ / area
• What sort of issues are linked to rivers? Health,
transport, built environment, community learning…
• Issues will require action from different sectors
• See how your activities can add value to / link up with
others’ engagement (e.g. neighbourhood planning,
engagement with police, health, flood management)
• Invite other sectors to your events (ask what would
make it useful for them)
• Make data and ideas available to relevant people
Connecting the key message:
•
•
•
•
•
•
People
Creativity and decisions
Across time
Existing assets and the future
Levels of scale
Sectors
• Start where you are, look for the positive, ask people
what success would be like for them, and align your
activities to add value for them. Then, look wider and
deeper and link the do-able to the bigger picture.