Community Engagement Toolkit

The Community Engagement Toolkit has been designed as an aid to improving the way engagement takes place within communities.

The toolkit is not only about which types or mechanisms of consultation are available, but it is also a portfolio of techniques that can be used to help these mechanisms achieve results.

The toolkit does not contain all the answers as to how community engagement can be carried out effectively and efficiently, but provides a range of techniques you can use or adapt in a particular situation that may suit your or your communities needs.

Each page will include a brief description of the method used, how best to use it and in what situations it would be appropriate.

The toolkit will let you know the resources you require, where they can be found, and where within the Leisure and Communities Department you will find the expertise to provide training on these techniques.

The approaches outlined may be used separately, or in some cases collectively in community events or as part of a community profile.

The idea of putting this toolkit together was to provide professionals and communities with a means to aid consultation and participation in the decision-making process.

If you have come across any other techniques to aid community engagement, then please forward them to us and we will add them to the Community Engagement Toolkit.

Within this toolkit there are also additional publications of methods, approaches and techniques for consultation and participation that have been developed by other agencies to aid the community engagement process. You can access these by clicking on the highlighted text below. The contents of each publication are contained within the toolkit.

The Community Engagement Toolkit (3.5MB PDF)
A Portfolio of Techniques, Dundee City Council
Models of Community Engagement (100KB PDF)
Stuart Hashagen, Scottish Community Development Centre
An Introductory Guide - How to Consult Your Users (3MB PDF)
First Service publication
Focusing on Citizens - A Guide to Approaches and Methods (220KB PDF)
Published by COSLA

Participation Works!

21 Techniques of Community Participation for the 21st Century (200KB PDF)
Produced by the New Economics Foundation with members of the UK Community Participation Network.
Building Strong Foundations - Involving People in the NHS (400KB PDF)
Involving People Team, Scottish Government Health Department

This information is provided by the Leisure and Communities Department