Transformation roundtable: Participation, co-design, community engagement and consultation in transformation

• Henrietta Curzon from Newham highlighted the importance of clear distinctions in participatory methods, introducing co-design standards to manage expectations around levels of involvement, enhance co-design capabilities, and improve decision-making.

• Henrietta also explained that co-design requires active collaboration and shared decision-making, involving people with lived experience and people with professional experience throughout the project lifecycle.

• Newham has undertaken training and workshops to standardise co-design practices, promoting participatory democracy and aiming for tangible, inclusive outcomes in community projects and policies.

• Michael Broad introduced a consultation toolkit at Reigate and Banstead Council, focusing on best practices in survey design to enhance local consultations.

• He highlighted the borough's demographic diversity and socioeconomic factors, emphasising tailored engagement strategies.

• The toolkit aims to improve technical skills across departments and is expanding to include focus groups and workshops for better feedback and service outcomes.

Could you provide examples of services where co-design has worked well and the outcomes that have been delivered?

Henrietta shared that one of their best examples was the Beckton Park master plan, an 18-month co-design project involving staff and residents, which was highly supported by the community. The resulting plan included features like a community farm and a boathouse café.

In Canterbury, we often engage with the same groups of people too late in the process. How do you broaden the co-production reach, especially with young people?

Henrietta explained their tailored approach for each project by identifying individuals that could be affected or benefit from the proposed work, including those not currently using the services. They leverage community connectors and frontline officers to reach diverse groups, such as recently when they were designing a wraparound service for people living in temporary accommodation. For youth engagement, they focus on building confidence and advocacy skills among young people to ensure their effective participation in co-design.

Michael emphasised the importance of understanding which audience is suitable for specific initiatives and acknowledged the role of community development contacts in reaching out effectively within projects.

During a roundtable discussion, several key points were addressed concerning community engagement, consultation strategies, and the use of digital tools for improving local governance:

Political engagement:

• Participants discussed the importance of political buy-in and maintaining accountability through structured dialogues with political members. They also highlighted the use of a central tracker to monitor engagement and consultations to ensure that resources and capacity are adequately planned and allocated for upcoming initiatives.

Platform utilisation and community engagement:

• Attendees expanded on the discussion about digital platforms used for community engagement, noting that some councils use platforms like Microsoft Dynamics while exploring others like URBAN which runs for enhanced community interaction see below for more platforms. In addition to the platforms, the role of community officers was emphasised as vital in developing relationships with various community groups, utilising tools like social media for broader, more informal reach.

Effective participation strategies:

• The effectiveness of participation activities was discussed, with a focus on gaining direct feedback from participants and supplementary resident surveys. Colleagues raised the need for cohesive guidance on participation across different councils requesting a more unified and standardised approach to enhance community engagement. Join the LGA Transformation Network for further conversations.

Community and digital engagement insights:

• Insights from discussions were shared on utilising community assets and engaging with volunteer and community sectors to enhance participation. The challenges of engaging younger populations through digital tools were acknowledged, with suggestions to use schools for diverse participant recruitment in youth boards.

Tailored community engagement:

• The discussions highlighted the importance of tailored community engagement approaches, such as conducting interviews in community spaces and adapting strategies to local contexts. The importance of ongoing research and adapting methods to reach hard-to-engage groups was also discussed.

Culture change and community leadership in engagement:

• Attendees also shared points on the variability of transformation programmes and the challenges of culture change within organisations. The need for community-led engagement and ensuring funding for diverse and tailored community involvement was emphasised.

Overall, the discussion underscored the need for strategic engagement, starting engagement in advance of any project initiation and leveraging both traditional methods and digital tools to effectively involve diverse community groups in local governance processes.

Engagement platforms shared in the roundtable chat

Go Vocal (Havant) (Newham) / Citizen Space (Buckinghamshire) /Bang the Table (Barnet) / Place Standard Tool (Newcastle) / Newsroom (Canterbury) / Engagement HQ (Oldham) / Commonplace (Oldham) / EAlyzer / Miro