This guide will walk you through the basics of digital community engagement and is meant to serve as a resource for beginners and seasoned practitioners alike. After all, setting a solid foundation for your community engagement initiative is key to its success.

Ensuring that your community engagement is successful and worthwhile requires full buy-in and continuous support from all levels of the community, starting with your organisation and eventually also your residents. It comes down to creating a culture of engagement. This doesn’t have to be daunting, and in the long run it will save you time, money, and headaches.

As a council, it is important to be more ambitious about participation and explore engagement methods beyond traditional survey consultations. But how do you start a real dialogue? When is the best time to use a particular participation method, and what should you pay attention to?