Case studies

Snitterfield Parish Council wanted to transform their local playing fields, but with plans costing around £100,000, the project stalled and the community became disengaged. Using seed funding from a county councillor, and working with design experts, the council held an engagement day, inviting residents to come and design the park.

During COVID-19, misinformation circulated among communities and there was some distrust of the council. Communities reported feeling disengaged from official sources. Through Community Champions - trusted voices from the community - Staffordshire County Council has built trust and capability within communities and used existing community networks to relay important health information.

Stroud District Council has fundamentally shifted its approach to community engagement. Having learned during COVID-19 that some communities were stepping into frontline service delivery without the necessary skills; the council focused on building capability within communities.

Wigan Council worked closely with survivors of domestic abuse to drive a step change in the borough’s response to this complex social problem. This included an award-winning media and engagement campaign, 'Love is Not Abuse', which challenged widespread assumptions about what constitutes domestic abuse and the most effective ways to communicate with victims.

The Economic Strategy sets out a clear direction of travel for North Warwickshire, providing a long-term framework to deliver positive, focused interventions to secure a more sustainable economy.

Traditional forms of consultation were not proving effective at reaching the diverse communities of Walworth, an area of Southwark undergoing rapid change. Working with a range of stakeholders, Southwark Council set out to have place-based conversations with as wide a range of local residents as possible.

Seeking to identify ways to close gaps of employment, deprivation and engagement in one of Bolton’s most deprived areas, Bolton Council provided funding and significant freedom of action to a housing association, as the best-embedded organisation within the community, to experiment with innovative forms of community engagement where traditional approaches had failed.

West Berkshire’s engagement officer noticed that the pandemic period saw a wider demographic of people responding to council consultations, communications and initiatives than previously, including increased engagement from children and young people. There was a desire to harness and build on this increased engagement, so a range of initiatives were launched to educate residents on the council’s role and responsibilities.

Torbay Council needed to construct new sea defences at two beaches. The original design was met with substantial public opposition, demonstrating significant community ‘buy-in’ to the appearance of the seafront. The council decided to pause the project and commission new designs, created using co-design and consultation principles.