On the 28th of January, governments, organisations and citizens are reminded of how critical it is to engage communities for decision making on matters that impact them. This Saturday marks the 6th anniversary of community engagement day, on which the Institute takes time to reflect on the value of and development of community engagement in the UK.

Engage 2 Act, an organisation based in Australia that aims to progress community engagement practice, created the day. They came up with the date by asking their social media followers what pioneer of community engagement stands out to them and why. The person who answered the question the best was born on January 28th- they used the winner’s birthday as the date for Global Community Engagement Day. Happy birthday, pal! 

The importance of community engagement is viewed as pivotal to strong, well-functioning democracies, where community stakeholders can participate in identifying local needs, generating solutions to pressing issues, planning new initiatives and service implementation and delivery. The process seeks to raise the knowledge and capacity of communities to engage, but not just in the activity at hand. When done right, community engagement processes frequently involve and often evolves into long-term partnerships that enable people to participate in decision-making activities on a continuous basis, effectively.

There is a growing recognition in both practice and legislation that community engagement creates a unique experience for those engaged in the process, and that is the feeling of empowerment. In this context, empowerment refers to how people gain control over the factors and decisions that shape their lives and help build community relationships and ties. As such, these processes enable communities to increase their assets and attributes and build capacities to gain access to partners, networks, and/or a voice to improve and influence decisions on public services and economic development to healthcare and race relations. 

Practice and development throughout the UK

Community engagement and empowerment have been championed across the world in Australia and New Zealand, and closer to home in Scotland and Wales. 

The Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 gives public bodies in Wales the legal obligation to work better with people and communities and think about the long term impacts of decisions in order to improve socio-economic, political and environmental conditions and prevent persistent problems like poverty, health inequalities and climate change. The understanding that community engagement should be central to the response of long term issues, and their solutions, is embedded in decision-making processes across the nation. 

The Welsh Government has greatly encouraged and influenced community engagement on a local level by issuing sector-specific guidance and principles for public bodies on community engagement and decision making. Above all else, the Government tends to lead by example, which means adopting co-productive processes at the national level to inform key actions and policies. This has been exemplified through the Government’s recently published draft Race Equality Action Plan for Wales, co-designed with minority ethnic community groups and grassroots organisations.

Similarly, the Scottish Government and public bodies have committed to community engagement by setting principles of community engagement, sharing best practices and providing a legal framework that promotes and encourages community empowerment and participation. The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 attempts to make it easier for communities to have their voices heard, shape local services, and have more influence over the decisions that affect their area. It also creates new rights for community bodies and places new duties on public authorities to promote and facilitate the participation of members of the public in the decisions and activities of the authority, including in the allocation of its resources.

In England, community engagement is not as far advanced, but certainly on the rise locally among the public sector, especially on issues concerning the environment and health. On a national-local level, community engagement is becoming the desired approach for developing proposals for Government-funded area-based initiatives, such as the Towns Fund. Unlike other levelling up initiatives, the Fund invited the most ‘struggling’ towns to develop community-agreed proposals for a Town Deal by putting decision-making in the hands of the local people. This comes at a very important time as many people think there will be a demand for communities to be empowered through public engagement to influence positive change, particularly on urgent issues affecting their towns and the environment in which they live. We have already seen elements of this demand through climate advocacy. 

The opportunity and need for better community engagement require public bodies to continue strengthening the relationships built during the pandemic to address the biggest challenges facing communities. Now is the perfect time to chat with the Institute about your community engagement strategy and plans.

To have a conversation about your upcoming engagement project or programme, please get in touch with the Institute here.