Community engagement

we use a variety of methods to engage with communities so that more social value can be offered and delivered

The Need: If social value is to be delivered it is vital that communities are given the right opportunities to voice their concerns, opinions and aspirations. Local people need to be listened to so their needs are understood and translated into development proposals. Certain communities may suffer from “consultation fatigue” where they feel that they are constantly asked for their input but that “nothing gets done”. You’ll need to be sensitive to this, build on previous consultation and engagement and to design community engagement methods appropriately. More widely there is a need to ensure that community engagement continues to leave a legacy of public participation and involvement so that communities feel confident to influence development in the future.

Our Response: FSquared helps organisations offer and deliver more social value by undertaking a range of community engagement activities. In the first instance we develop a community engagement strategy and action plan along with a communications plan. Then we’ll work with you to undertake the right sort of community engagement. This might include:

1. Questionnaires: Where appropriate, questionnaires offer an important means by which individuals can get their message across quickly and effectively. Where questionnaires are used we back them up with further interviews and workshops to ensure that we deepen our understanding of community views and aspirations.
2. Workshops and drop-in sessions: We design and deliver workshops and drop-in sessions where members of a community can engage with proposals interactively. We also make sure that these sessions are attended by all the relevant professionals so that questions can be answered on all aspects of proposals.
3. Public meetings: Often these run the risk of being dominated by one group or by particular individuals. We are experienced in the effective facilitation of such groups. We make sure that all individuals and groups have the opportunity to voice their concerns or aspirations making public meetings more effective forums to engage with communities .
4. Walk-abouts:  Taking community groups on tours of development sites is a powerful way to explain proposals and gain feedback on them. We are experienced in the organisation and delivery of such walk-abouts.

We are always striving to improve our community engagement processes and strategies. For example, we are currently developing our capacity to use digital technologies (video cameras, website development) to engage with communities. Have a look at our case studies for more information.

The Benefits: The overall benefit of our activity is that proposals take into account community needs and aspirations. There are benefits for the local authority whose previous community engagement is built on and complemented. For the private sector partner there are benefits in relation to having a more rounded approach to community engagement which can be taken forward in other projects and can be articulated as part of an approach to corporate responsibility. Finally and most importantly there are benefits for the community members who feel more empowered to make a difference in their local area.


Case study

The Lyng




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