Logistics

 

InterconnectedPracticesIconsNew_v02_Community EngagementCommunity engagement

 

Community Engagement is the process by which citizens are engaged to work and learn together on behalf of their communities to create and realize bold visions for the future. It can involve informing citizens about your initiative, inviting their input, collaborating with them to generate solutions, and partnering with the community from the beginning to tackle community issues.

Community Engagement increases community cohesion and allows for the community to have ownership over the outcomes that will ultimately impact them. 

Community engagement Workshops

Monday, September 30 | Building Your Planning Canvas

Why engage? It’s a simple question, but one that most people don’t spend enough time exploring.  Too often we engage ‘because we’re supposed to’ rather than ‘because we absolutely need to’. In this skills session we will challenge the status quo and push our thinking beyond our comfort zone. 

Session goals: 

  • Assess your comfort as a changemaker in deeply engaging communities  
  • Learn the 7 foundations for authentic engagement 
  • Critically evaluate why you’re engaging and challenge yourself to go deeper 
  • Flip your perspective to understand your work from the community member’s point of view 
  • Use the Community Engagement Planning Canvas to hold you accountable 

 

Tuesday, October 1 | Innovative Stories and Case Studies

What would it take for your engagement to be truly personal, accessible and centered around connection? Explore the role of humour, informal language and vulnerability through stories and exercises, and brainstorm the possibilities for your authentic engagement. 

Session goals: 

  • Inspire with examples of engaging communications that are out of the ordinary 
  • Explore vulnerability and why we need more of it in our society 
  • Assess how approachable your current engagement activities are and plan what you’ll do to reduce the barriers 
  • Consider accessibility in all its form and brainstorm solutions 
  • Engage in an exercise to embark on ‘something crazy and wonderful’ 

 

Wednesday, October 2 | Methods to Put Theory Into Practice

In this time of increasing polarization, it has never been more important to bring people together to share and deliberate to help create understanding between people with diverse perspectives. Deep dive into two methods for deep collaborative engagement and explore the role of the community from being the recipient of programs and services to having ownership and investment in the things that matter most to them.

Session goals: 

  • Understand the decision-making process and the importance of deliberation 
  • Explore co-design methodologies for finding commonalities between diverse perspectives 
  • Learn how to link deep engagement processes together with consultative processes 

 

Meet lisa, your festival faculty member

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Lisa Attygalle

Consulting Director, Community Engagement

Tamarack learning Centre

Lisa works with cities and organizations to help them meaningfully engage their communities. Over the last six years her work has focused on creating authentic engagement strategies and training staff teams, teaching and writing about innovative engagement methodologies, designing and facilitating workshops with a focus on raising the voice of the context expert, integrated communications planning, and the use of technology and creativity for engagement. Lisa advocates for simplicity in infrastructure, frameworks and design and loves applying the principles of marketing, advertising, loyalty, and user experience to community initiatives.