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Our approach to community engagement

Involving people in sustainable communities

English Partnerships’ projects leave a legacy of diverse, thriving and sustainable communities.  It is important that people feel that they have been genuinely involved in the development of the places in which they live, and have pride and a sense of ownership in the end product.

Reaping the benefits

Meaningful community engagement may require more time, effort and financial resources at the early stages of the process, but experience has shown that this can reap rewards in a number of ways, for example:

• A better place
  Tapping into the local knowledge of the residents can contribute to the long-term sustainability of the project and result in a better end product.
• Iron out uncertainties
  Early stage community engagement can help remove doubts and tensions in project development, which can in turn increase the speed of planning approvals.
• Building social cohesion
  The community engagement process can help develop a common vision and sense of belonging with people from different backgrounds.

Community engagement principles

We do not adopt a single approach, but aim to bring forward consistent high-quality community engagement based on the needs and opportunities of the local area and people.

English Partnerships advocates 10 guiding principles, developed on the basis of our own and our partners’ experience in working with local people on the regeneration and redevelopment of sustainable places.

Our 10 guiding principles:

1. Get started early to get the best results.

2. Be clear about the aims and objectives including recognition of whether any community engagement has already taken place in the area and what capacity the community has to get involved.

3. Involve the right people by finding the facts about the communities where investment is being considered.

4. Develop and involve partners who can work alongside our investment activities to help broaden the outcomes.

5. Set effective ground rules with the community and partners including defining boundaries and agreeing lead agencies of strands of activity.

6. Have a robust delivery plan with realistic timescales and adequate funding but also effective risk management.

7. Consider different models of community engagement, learning from experiences elsewhere and depending on the capacity of the local groups.

8. Have a clear communications strategy with partners for the project and publicise channels of communication.

9. Be flexible about the exit strategy in helping to create a sustainable community.

10. Measure success and learn from this for future projects.

Moving forward

We review our approach regularly to include new ideas and methods that reflect our experiences and constitute best practice.  We welcome feedback on the practical experience of working with local people in the regeneration and development of their areas.

To share your experiences with us or for further information please email at mail@englishpartnerships.co.uk.

For further information please download our brochure from the Publications page.