Inclusion: the key for councils to advance community engagement

More and more local governments are taking their community engagement online. While councils are eager to build diverse communities of engaged residents, actually putting inclusion into practice is still a major pain point for most. Even the best intentioned councils may find that some groups are harder to reach than others.

In this webinar, we were joined by Jacqui Broadhead, Director of the Global Exchange on Migration and Diversity, who leads the Inclusive Cities network of UK councils working to change their approach towards integration of newcomers in their cities.

Jacqui shared how cities approach inclusion on concrete topics such as improving access to information, connecting communities, budgeting public funds, and more. We discussed what to consider when setting up new community engagement projects, and how building inclusion into each step can help reach traditionally under-represented communities and build trust.

• Best practices for making engagement projects more inclusive
• Clear takeaways for incorporating inclusion in your council’s projects
• Ideas for using digital tools & how to combine them with face-to-face interaction for advanced inclusion

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Guests:
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Eleni Katrini is a designer and researcher with experience in academia, local government, private and voluntary sector. She is currently holding a position as a Senior Regeneration Manager at Newham council, working on developing strategies for Newham’s high streets based on evidence and co-design.

Jonathan McClue is a Principal Planning Officer at the London Borough of Camden, responsible for major developments within the development management service. Jonathan is passionate about community consultation and helped pioneer Camden’s remote Development Management Forum process, which is a formal part of Camden’s pre-application consultation procedure on large and strategic schemes.

Moderated by Lora Botev, Business Development Manager UK