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Guides

Packed with practical tips and good practice examples, our guides are sure to leave you feeling supported and inspired. Have a specific community engagement project in mind already? We have a guide for that. Not sure where to start your community engagement journey? Download a few guides to get ideas.

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Putting blended engagement into practice - Part 1

We're witnessing a fundamental shift in public participation patterns. Today, community members want to participate on their terms and on their preferred platforms. This 360° participation trend is rapidly turning blended engagement from an innovative practice to a standard expectation. In the first part of this guide, we'll be exploring what a blended engagement strategy entails theoretically, how to pick the right methods and illustrate it with examples.

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Building a Culture of Engagement: a Practical Handbook - Part 2

A dedicated and capable team that works well together and has clarity on everyone’s roles and responsibilities is the driving force behind any successful engagement initiative. In this part of the guide, you will discover various frameworks to embed community engagement into your organization and worksheets to define your engagement plan and your team's set-up.

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Building a Culture of Engagement: a Practical Handbook - Part 1

The importance of leadership support in driving successful participation efforts and developing a culture of engagement is huge. In this guide, we'll delve deeper into how you can secure their support and how to design a crystal clear engagement strategy.

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Why engage online: making a case for online community engagement

Digital tools dramatically bring down the cost of getting community members to participate, and engagement teams to manage projects. What exactly is the return on investment (ROI) in a digital community engagement platform?

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How to create a communications plan for community engagement

Whether you’re looking to launch a project, are already running one, or are at the report-out phase, a strong communications plan will help drive the success of your efforts. This guide will teach you the basics of setting up a communications plan for your community engagement efforts.

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An introduction to participatory budgeting

Participatory budgeting has emerged as one of the strongest methods of community engagement for governments looking to make their communities more inclusive and participatory. By organizing a participatory budget, you can tap directly into the collective intelligence of your community and align the allocation of public funds with real-life community needs.

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Community Engagement: A Practitioner’s Guide - Part 2

Written in collaboration with the Department of Civic Things, part two of this series explores defining engagement and designing a sustainable and effective engagement strategy for your government agency.

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Why you should use community engagement to co-create mobility plans

Wherever people live and work, questions about mobility are bound to arise. After all, mobility plans and options define our ability to move around and stay connected in the communities we call home.

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How to build community engagement into your planning processes

Creating comprehensive plans is one of many responsibilities local governments are tasked with. Involving residents and stakeholders in reviewing, assessing, and even co-creating plans can improve them and help you prioritize competing needs.

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How to set up a community engagement committee

A community engagement committee can be a very useful tool to promote diverse dialogue around key topics, address polarizing issues, and create more inclusive policies. Our guide will walk you through both the theory behind them as well as how you can set one up in your community.

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The beginner's guide to community engagement

To make the most of our communities’ collective intelligence, and to allocate our time and resources in a more efficient and sustainable way, we have to maximize the way we use digital solutions. This guide will walk you through the basics of digital community engagement, but it’s meant to serve as a resource for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike.

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The FAQs of digital consultation

While there is no golden rule for successful digital community engagement, there are guidelines that have proven to help you achieve your participation goals. The lessons learned and practical tips and tricks in this guide will certainly come in handy when your government launches a digital community engagement project.

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Community Engagement: a Practitioner's Guide

Written in collaboration with the Department of Civic Things, part one of this two-part series explores the steps you need to take to create a sustainable and effective community engagement strategy for your government agency.

Download the free guide
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Moderating difficult conversations

In this guide, we'll take a closer look at the core responsibilities and skills of a conversation moderator, as well as some insights on the best ways to approach these challenging tasks for both online and offline conversations.

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Engaging your community in urban development

More and more cities are choosing to involve residents and stakeholders in developing public spaces. In this guide, we discuss best practices on giving your community a voice in with digital tools.

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Co-creating greener cities of the future

Now is the time for local governments to engage their residents in participatory processes to shape the places they call home into greener cities of the future. This mini-guide highlights 4 key areas to consider for your next sustainable urban planning project.

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How to set up an inclusive digital engagement project

We like to think that digital reaches everyone, but what if you're missing out on some groups?

Here are key principles to follow when setting a digital participation project to ensure that your platform is as inclusive and representative as possible.

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Organizing digital community workshops

Community workshops are an essential part of our local democracies. These events, which are traditionally held offline, are now beginning to take place in digital spaces. How can we ensure that deliberation remains fruitful and constructive? Our practical guide helps you to organize and moderate your online debates.

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6 ways to consult and engage with your community online

A practical overview of the main consultation methods for councils looking to implement digital participation and boost community engagement on a local scale.

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Measuring Impact in Civic Tech

Community engagement platforms aim to improve intangible metrics such as trust,  participation and democratic dialogue. How can these be accurately measured, and why is demonstrating impact so important? This guide looks at practical measures of impact, with a special focus on community engagement platforms.

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The future of Digital Democracy

Where will our democracies be in 10 years? How can local governments stimulate community engagement?

Interviews with thought leaders on the future of community engagement, innovation in government and leadership in the digital age.

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