Step 4: Addressing imbalance
Projects should ensure community engagement is accessible to all, including reducing physical and social barriers to participation, and be sensitive to existing imbalances of power and resource – both present and historical.
Address imbalance through equitable and inclusive design
Projects should ensure community engagement is accessible to all, including reducing physical and social barriers to participation, and be sensitive to existing imbalances of power and resource – both present and historical.
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Projects should support deliberation for the identified community to reach consensus, achieving mutually beneficial outcomes where possible and addressing power dynamics in the room.
Questions for Project Leads
- What methods of engagement will be most accessible and appropriate for participants?
- What are the needs of the target community for this process? Barriers to participation may range from digital exclusion to childcare support.
- Are there groups that have historically been unable to participate due to specific unmet needs?
- Is funding available to address these needs, or how could this project address these needs? Are the costs for accessibility in community engagement included in the overall project budget?
- If you are engaging with children and/or young people do you have appropriate safeguarding measures in place?
- How will the community engagement process provide space for both loud and quiet voices to input?
- How will the facilitation team handle potential conflict during the community engagement process?
- Is the project cognizant of all legal diversity and equality requirements, including the Equality Act 2010?
- Has the project considered local context, e.g. are demographics of participants reflective of the local area and/or challenge you are addressing?
Useful Resources
Suggested Actions
- Ensure capacity, appropriate staffing, and suitable budget are in place to address the individual needs of participants.
- Identify the demographics which are present in the local area and ensure you have both diversity and representation in the participant group as much as possible (which acknowledging that not everyone in a community will be interested in participating).
- Consider all protected characteristics and the intersectionality of all participants.
- Have a range of engagement methods available to meet varied needs of community members. For example, online, offline, anonymous feedback, written, spoken, voting activities, etc.
- Consider how to meet additional support needs participants may have, including (but not limited to) mobility issues, language barriers, the need for an advocate in the room, resources/materials in alternative formats, provision of childcare, travel allowance, etc.
- Produce an accessible glossary for some jargon/terms (including the language of financiers) and minimise use of technical language where possible
- Use inclusive and positive language – use neutral examples to avoid unconscious bias.
- Have clear participation guidelines in place to support inclusion and address power imbalances during deliberation.
Example Evidencing Measures
- Highlight how you have adapted processes to meet specific needs of individuals
- Show use of multiple engagement methods to reach diverse groups
- Accessible glossary of relevant terms for the project
- Conversation guidelines used during participatory sessions
- Session plans from any community engagement activities (e.g. table discussions, stalls at public events)
- Photos of activities undertaken during community engagementCopies of materials and resources used
Accessibility considerations
Events, both online and in-person, should be designed to be as accessible as possible for a wide range of participants with diverse needs. Examples listed below should be incorporated into all community engagement events where possible, and participants should be asked to provide any information on individual support needs which should then be addressed in advance of the sessions.
Conversation Guidelines
Community Inclusion Standard Best Practice Guide by Nature Finance Certification Alliance
is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
community inclusion standard best practice guide
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