Community Engagement and Planning
Increasingly Government and agencies are placing centrally the need for effective community engagement in the development of relevant plans, programmes and strategies. This is now also recognised by the private sector and companies are now endeavouring to engage their stakeholders at earlier stages in the development of key business strategies.
Natural Capital has built up a strong track record of experience in projects that have had a focus on stakeholder engagement and community participation.
These have included:
- Community Audits: for example the Dùthchas Project funded by the EC LIFE Environment Programme and steered by a partnership of 16 public agencies and 2 NGOswas broadly aimed at developing mechanisms for achieving sustainable development within remote rural areas that have both high environmental quality and fragile economies. Work involved developing objectives, indicators and sustainability profiles with local communities in 3 pilot areas, facilitating action programmes and developing a community-based scheme to encourage and support projects on the ground. The work culminated in the production of a handbook for community participation.
- Community Workshops: Natural Capital has been involved in the development of several local authority community strategies and plans that have involved extensive community engagement including stakeholder conferences, community workshops, focus groups and participatory appraisal.
- Public Perceptions and Aspirations: for example for Greenspace Scotland Natural Capital has developed a toolkit guide for community consultation techniques that would assist local authorities and other organisations in gathering public perception/aspiration data to aid in the development of greenspace strategies. A web-based guidance tool comprising of a step by step guide with supporting information sheets and checklists has been produced and is due to be formerly launched on the Greenspace Scotland web site.
Community Plans or Strategies: Natural Capital has assisted several local authorities in the development of their community strategies. For example for Alnwick District Council, Natural Capital undertook the preparation of a Local Agenda 21 strategy for the district that included scoping, auditing and bringing together policy to shape a strategy. Part way through the commission the Council decided that given the government’s intention to move towards Community Strategies and the common ground between LA21 and Community Strategies that it would make sense to convert the work into a community strategy. Natural Capital led the transition leading the project for the Council and gaining community buy-in and establishing a working partnership which in time became the local strategic partnership for the district.
- Community Engagement Training: Natural Capital has facilitated numerous workshop events aimed at training local authority staff, members, community agents and local community representatives in a range of community engagement techniques. Topics have included facilitating briefing workshops, focus groups, participatory appraisal and planning for real.