Community Engagement and Consultation

Important 

This programme is now closed.

What is it?

Community engagement is all about bringing people together to work towards a common goal, and in the case of Stalled Spaces that goal is the improvement of a stalled or under utilised space for a productive use.

More than the access to land and material resources, it is the enthusiasm and ambition of the people involved that drives the success of community projects.

It is therefore key that these stakeholders and champions are identified from the beginning and made part of projects.

How to engage communities?

There is extensive guidance available online on how to engage communities. A few pointers are listed below:

• Consult widely, using more than one method, this could include online polls or surveys, consultations, mailers across neighborhoods or organisations, speaking at community events, etc.
• Identify and manage feedback from your stakeholders
• For any consultations, ensure that the day, time and location takes into account the availability and convenience of target groups
• Have a plan but be prepared to change it
• Encourage groups to visit other projects in the city to get ideas

For Stalled Spaces projects it is also crucial to inform and involve local residents around the project site and foster their support of the initiative.

Buy-in from local residents can also enhance safety/security and reduce the risk of vandalism.