Community engagement
Organisations: organisational cultures
Introducing community engagement into an organisation presents a number of challenges to traditional ways of working and the existing culture. Successful community engagement often introduces a different decision-making culture into an organisation. In other words, community engagement needs to be 'mainstreamed'. Structures and processes that are often closed and inward focused need to open and face outwards to the wider community. This means that policy makers need to be more open, transparent and inclusive in how they work. To adapt to this different way of working, organisations need to think about the following:
- Are staff aware of the organisation's commitment to community engagement?
- Do staff understand how community engagement relates to their own area of work?
- How is community engagement promoted across the organisation?
- How is community engagement policy stitched into the core business of the organisation e.g. is it reflected in the main strategic documents?
- What does the organisation hope to achieve through mainstreaming community engagement?
