Akriti Shrivastava, a volunteer at Skillseed and an experienced social development professional across the non-profit and corporate sectors, shares the whys and hows of Community Engagement in today’s context.

 
1.jpeg
 

Community is at the heart of all social activities. There is no single definition that explains the word in all contexts. Simply put, community is the coming together of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people. From a developmental perspective, Community Involvement is for a higher collective purpose. Government, businesses, non-profit organisations are the main agents of change in society. When these key players and diverse community stakeholders come together to have meaningful conversations, adopt impactful strategies, design and implement plans and programmes collectively around shared ideas, control and goals, this brings in the concept of Community Engagement. The belief behind community engagement is that the people impacted by the problem have some of the best solutions and those who are affected by a decision have a right to be involved in the decision-making process. They help us understand how they experience the system through their lived experiences, and that’s not something we can learn anywhere else. When these experiences and their voices become part of the process, and combined with organisational knowledge, resources and expertise, it becomes a powerful partnership that inspires innovative thinking and brings sustainable solutions. 


WHY COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT? 

“Doing to us, not with us”, is a recipe for failure. In October 2010, Chris Christie Governor of New Jersey; Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark New Jersey (USA); and Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook announced an ambitious reform plan for Newark Public Schools. Zuckerberg pledged a $100 million matching grant to support the goal of making Newark a model for how to turn around a failing school system. This announcement was the first time that most Newark residents heard about the initiative. Christie and Booker had adopted a top-down approach because they thought that the messy work of forging a consensus among local stakeholders might undermine the reform effort. They created an ambitious timeline, installed a board of philanthropists from outside Newark to oversee the initiative, and hired a leader from outside Newark to serve as the city’s superintendent of schools. Instead of generating excitement among Newark residents about an opportunity to improve results for their kids, the reform plan that emerged from the 2010 announcement sparked a massive public outcry. At public meetings, community members protested vigorously against the plan. Instead of unifying Newark residents behind a shared goal, the Booker-Christie initiative polarized the city. The story of school reform in Newark has become a widely cited object lesson in how not to undertake a social change project. 

For social change to happen, trust and community ownership must form, people need to engage with one another, and we need to create the right underlying conditions and capabilities for change to take root and grow. Research has shown that solutions will be feasible and sustainable only if practitioners and leaders create and implement solutions with the active participation of people in the communities that they target. Community engagement enables better understanding of communities’ needs and aspirations and builds deeper, stronger and more trusting relationships. It can instil a can-do spirit that can achieve real change especially in the lives of the more vulnerable members of a community. Hence, community engagement can be an important tool for social transformation and is critical to deepening democracies. 

HOW TO ENGAGE A COMMUNITY?  Community comes together for a cause when they see the need, right intent and sincerity of purpose from the leaders and practitioners. Effective community engagement needs to be based on principles, values, action strategies, and the process of engagement  should be sensitive to the community-context and involve the diverse groups within a community. Some of the popular community engagement methods are community meetings, focus groups, surveys and online engagement. In practice, community engagement is a blend of science and art. It requires technical skills of tools/techniques and the soft skills of empathy, cross cultural agility, negotiation and influence. 

The diagrams below highlight the key considerations and processes for effective engagement:

 
 
 
 

At Skillseed, we envision a future free of the social, environmental and developmental problems and our solutioning comes from working together with community partners, experts and a diversity of participants to co-create and collaborate for a sustained positive impact. Our learning and practice paradigm prioritises authentic relationships, dignity, empathy and mutual empowerment. With years of expertise and working with communities, we have developed a holistic framework encompassing both Social Innovation and Community Engagement. In our line of work, it’s not just about what you do, but how you do it. Hence, our Human Centered Leadership & Community Engagement toolkit is designed to equip participants with the necessary sensitivities, competencies, and contextual awareness to maximise their time and impact in communities. 

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM?

Engaging the community may be  fraught with challenges along the way,  but if done right, can help build a vibrant space where all the members can play a part in shaping their future. 

  • Relationship building is a big challenge while working together in a community. We need to be intentional in understanding individual differences and perspectives, valuing everyone’s inputs and having continuous engagement. For strong partnership, the virtues of reciprocity, reliability, commitment, collaboration, clear communication, transparency and accountability is needed.

  • Communities are not necessarily homogeneous or coherent. The views in a community are diverse, and it is important not to generalise based on the views of the organised few that are easier to reach. Hence, it is important to select initiatives and activities that bring the participation of a broader cross-section of community stakeholders which adequately represents the community. 

  • There are times when projects see diminishing involvement of the community members. This can be mitigated by celebrating small successes along the project phases,  which will enable community members to see that their involvement matters. It also helps to be clear on the desired project outcomes so as to manage member’s expectations.

  • Too often “experts” undermine the natural leadership and the sense of connectedness that exist in communities as assets for solving problems. We need to be reminded that relationship building takes time and tapping on the collective strengths of the members in the community is the way to bring about sustainable changes. Thus, it is important to continuously build the knowledge and skills that are needed to work in a community. 

At Skillseed, we practise and equip participants with the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) concept that recognises, emphasises and leverages the various assets, both tangible and intangible in a given community.  In our ABCD workshops, we emphasise and facilitate participants’ practice of asset-mapping from the scales of the individual, to the community and environment. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN ACTION 

A powerful example of citizen engagement is the Singapore Together or SG Together movement launched in 2019. It is about the Government moving towards deeper engagements, working in partnership with citizens to build our future. 

Through this movement, citizens are consulting on national policies and issues, co-creating policies, co-delivering for a better Singapore and shaping our physical environment together. 

Skillseed is grateful to be partnering with our nation’s top leaders in a citizen engagement programme, “Engagement Immersion for Leaders (EIL)” led by our government partners, Public Service Division (PSD) under the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY), and the Civil Service College (CSC). In addition to the 2-day equipping session facilitated by Skillseed, public service leaders on this programme have the opportunity to engage with citizens on the ground to further hone their community engagement skills through the host attachments with various government agencies. At a broader level, this programme supports the SG Together movement with government and citizens partnering together to design more attuned policies and services for all. 

Participants on the “Engagement Immersion for Leaders” Programme in 2020

Participants on the “Engagement Immersion for Leaders” Programme in 2020

Community engagement is believed to serve the community but in reality, it is an equally humbling and learning experience for the practitioners and change leaders as well. Research, expertise and professional judgement are essential for community engagement but what strikes a chord with the members is the intent, the connection of ideas with impact and connection of opportunities with their settings. Like individuals, each community is unique and solutions cannot be imported; they need to be co-created with the members and thus engaging the community is not optional, it is imperative. Authentic community engagement matters and it takes time to accomplish.  It is not an activity that leaders can check off on a list but instead a continuous process that aims to generate the support necessary for sustainable change. The goal is to encourage community members not just to participate in a social change initiative but also to champion it. As policymakers, elected officials, business leaders, philanthropists and nonprofit leaders shift resources to data-driven programs, they must ensure the integration of community engagement with evidence-based practices. The complex and ever-changing nature of communities and participation means that there are no one-size-fits-all rules around engagement. However, it is possible to put in place principles of engagement that can be worked on over time depending on local circumstances. The key is for communities to be empowered with sustained engagement, developing skills for them to take ownership in the co-created solutions for sustainable change.  

If you are keen to be equipped with human-centered leadership and community engagement skills for your organisation/team, find out more here or reach out to us!

Comment