Principles of Community Engagement (Second Edition)

• Know the extent to which the focus of the community engagement efforts
is flexible As more is learned about the community and issues of inter-
est, it might be more effective or appropriate to focus engagement efforts
on other populations or communities Similarly, goals may need to be
modified based on community input
Finally, to learn about communities, you must:
• Talk with stakeholders, attend community meetings, read community
newspapers, and obtain information that is relevant to the engagement
process
• Establish relationships and build trust.
Potential partners will be more likely to become involved in a community
engagement effort, such as collaborative health promotion or research projects,
if they understand what it means to become involved and believe their
participation will be meaningful Using a community-engaged
approach and working within communities requires a continual
effort to balance costs and benefits and sustain cooperation
and accountability among participating groups All interested
individuals, groups, and organizations must feel they can join
a community engagement effort and influence it This is the
foundation for trust among collaborators If trust is not present,
relationships are guarded and commitments tentative Therefore, relationships
must be built that are inclusive of the entire community of interest
Being inclusive can create some organizing challenges However, successfully
overcoming these challenges will provide a greater return on the investment
made by engagement leaders through the greater involvement of partners
and the assets they bring to the process One key challenge is managing the
decision-making process When formal governance of the collaboration is
needed, the community should be given an opportunity to shape the governance
process and provide input on decisions to be made by the governing
structure Another important approach to creating and maintaining a sense
that participation is worthwhile is to use collaborative strategies that can
achieve a small success quickly and reinforce the benefit of participation
With time, collaborations may evolve from these “small beginnings” and
All interested individuals, groups,
and organizations must feel they
can join a community engagement
effort and influence it.
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