Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2
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Workbook Workbook and Tools and Tools Community Engagement Unit Resources and Regional Services Division/Catchment Version 2 and Agriculture Services Version engagement community Effective 2 Effectivecommunity engagement Department of Sustainability and Environment Department of Primary Industries www.dse.vic.gov.au www.dpi.vic.gov.au 1350_DSE_V2_cover 1 7/5/04, 12:42:30 PM Workbook and Tools Community Engagement Unit Resources and Regional Services Division/Catchment and Agriculture Services Version 2 Foreword Effectivecommunity engagement Department of Sustainability and Environment Department of Primary Industries www.dse.vic.gov.au www.dpi.vic.gov.au (ii) 1350_DSE_V2_pre section1 1 6/5/04, 12:41:21 PM Preface Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2 Acknowledgements This Workbook is the culmination of work Get Engaged Workshop Co-ordinators Photographs by Jo Crosby, Celeste Hervey, that started with the establishment of a Selina Handley, Nicole Hunter, Emily Jenke, Andrew Pritchard, Henry Schneider, statewide Community Engagement Working and Frankie MacLennan, who enabled Justin Teague, Glenn Watson (from The Group under the previous Department practical testing of elements of the Workbook Warrnambool Standard), Lyneve Whiting. of Natural Resources and Environment in to ensure it met the learning needs of Published by the Victorian Government early 2002. Since the group was formed, departmental staff. Department of Sustainability departmental changes have taken place Catchment Strategies (Department of and Environment and contributions have expanded to include Sustainability and Environment) (formally Melbourne, January 2004 discussions on theory, evolution and testing known as the Community Strategies Section, Also published on www.dse.vic.gov.au as well as modification of the concepts Catchment and Water Division) (Department and models. The process culminated in the of Natural Resources and Environment) © The State of Victoria 2004 production of this Workbook, led by the for the preliminary development and This publication is copyright. No part may Community Engagement Unit. A number kind permission in use of the ‘Wheel of be reproduced by any process except in of people deserve recognition for their work Engagement’. accordance with the provisions of the to date. Sponsors Regional Services (Department of Copyright Act 1968. Workbook Project Leader Lyneve Whiting Sustainability and Environment) through Judy Authorised by the Victorian Government, and Project Officers Mary Bignell and Peter Backhouse and Catchment and Agriculture 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. West, who have ensured the development, Services (Department of Primary Industries) For more information contact the Department momentum and rigour of the Workbook and through Ron Harris. its relevance to staff and the communities of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and The Coastal Cooperative Research Centre they work with. the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) for kind permission for reproduction of the Customer Service Centre 136 186 Community Engagement Working Group Citizen Science Toolbox. For copies of this Workbook, please call Members throughout 2002 – 2003 and A special note of thanks to: the DSE/DPI Customer Services Centre the Community Engagement Unit: • Staff from the Department of Sustainability on 136 186 Robert Chaffe, Mandy Charman, Neville and Environment and the Department of ISBN 1 74106 776 6 Fowler, Selina Handley, Peter Howden, Nicole Primary Industries who were involved in the Printed using recycled materials. Hunter, Jeremy Moloney, Josette O’Donnell, Community Engagement Workshops held Emily Philips, Catherine Pilioussis, Jo Powell, across Victoria during late 2002, and those Greg Roberts, Emily Jenke, Amity Latham, involved in the Get Engaged Workshops Fleur Maidment, Pauline McCarthy, Frankie held through November and December MacLennan, Murray McIntyre, Heather Shaw, 2003. Greg Turner, Ian Voigt, Lyneve Whiting and • Various project areas from the Department Jane Whyte. of Sustainability and Environment and the Department of Primary Industries, and their external partners, who tested the Workbook’s relevance to their communities and contributed to case studies included in this Workbook. (i) 1350_DSE_V2_pre section1 2 6/5/04, 12:41:42 PM Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2 Preface Foreword Effective Community Engagement: With a wide and diverse range of Workbook and Tools is a practical planning stakeholders, staff are increasingly required tool that will help staff engage the to develop their skill base to better community and other key stakeholders to understand and manage this exchange of achieve better policy and project outcomes. information and knowledge. Engagement The Victorian Government through is not about running a process, it is about its Growing Victoria Together policy is knowing how to obtain and share relevant committed to working closely with Victorian information across a broad range of communities and being open and inclusive. stakeholder groups to achieve better results. This means offering better access to decision- To deliver on our respective charters, making processes. we need a strong stakeholder focus and The Department of Sustainability and a solid grasp of the principles of engagement. Environment and the Department of Primary This Workbook is for all staff. It acknowledges Industries are involving the community in that in addition to our technical and science order to deliver the Government’s agenda skills, we need to develop our capacity to for sustainable growth in our natural and work with stakeholders. We encourage you built environments. to familiarise yourselves with this Workbook and make full use of it as we work with our communities to achieve better outcomes for Victoria. Chloe Munro Lyndsay Neilson Secretary Secretary Department of Department of Primary Industries Sustainability and Environment (ii) 1350_DSE_V2_pre section1 3 6/5/04, 12:41:43 PM Preface Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2 Glossary Action Learning Extension Stakeholders “…a continuous process of learning and to work with communities to accelerate individuals and/or groups with an interest in reflection, supported by colleagues, with the rate of change in particular aspects an activity and/or outcome. Stakeholders may an intention of getting things done.”1 of endeavour, over and above that being be internal or external to the organisation realised through the normal activities of the and may be direct or indirect beneficiaries of Citizens market place. an activity and/or outcome. individuals within a community. Human Capacity Stakeholder Engagement Community the collective skills and abilities of individuals “…is a way of thinking about external joint ownership or fellowship of place within a community. audiences and their impact on organisational (town, district catchment, etc.) or issue outcomes. It is not simply another word for Project Team (industry, professional associations, special clients or customers. It implies recognising interest which may be local or even world refers to a group of people working together and responding to those who have the wide) where there is “…sharing among all to develop processes and implement activities capacity to influence your outcomes and have members of resources, opporunities and to achieve their project goals. a particular interest in your activities..”4 consequences…”2 Social Capacity Your external stakeholders may not Capacity Building the sum of the relationships and trust necessarily be outside the organisation. refers to the development of skills, abilities, between individuals within a community. They can also include those internal to the relationships and networks between and organisation but, external to your unit, Social Capital within individuals and groups within a program or project. defined community. the networks and relationships that foster trust, reciprocity and social cohesion. Community Capacity “…consists of the networks, organisation, attitudes, leadership and skills that allow communities to manage change and sustain community-led development…”3 1 MicGill, I., and Beaty, L., (page 11) (2001) 2 Senge, P., et al (pp 509), 1994 and Concise Oxford Dictionary 3 Cavaye, Dr. J., (2000) 4 Allen Consulting Group, (2003) (iii) 1350_DSE_V2_pre section1 4 6/5/04, 12:41:47 PM Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2 Preface Contents Acknowledgements Foreword Glossary Section one 1 Introduction 1.1 The Way Forward – Victorian Government Commitment 1.2 Victoria’s Diversity 2 Community Engagement 2.1 A Community Engagement Framework and Principles 2.2 Engagement and Community Engagement – Definitions 2.3 The Benefits of Successful Engagement 2.4 Relationship between Community Engagement & Capacity Building 3 The Workbook 3.1 Purpose 3.2 How far will the Workbook Take You 3.3 Who is it for? 3.4 Using this Workbook 3.4.1 Creating a Project Team 3.5 Feedback 4 Community Engagement – Principles and Concepts 4.1 Understanding the Principles and Concepts 4.1.1 Principles 4.1.2 Concepts 4.1.2.1 Systems Thinking 4.1.2.2 Community Profiling 4.1.2.3 Participation 4.2 Difference between Engagement, Participation and Consultation 5 Wheel of Engagement – Introduction 5.1 The Wheel of Engagement 5.2 Inform 5.3 Consult 5.4 Involve 5.5 Empower 5.6 Increasing Social Capacity 1350_DSE_V2_pre section1 5 6/5/04, 12:41:48 PM Preface Effective Community Engagement Workbook Version 2 Contents Section two 6 Community Engagement Planning