1. Reinventing the Way Local Councils & NGOs Engage with their Communities

2. TYPE OF
ENGAGEMENT
GOVERNMENT’S ROLE
CITIZEN’S
ROLE
Customer Service
Provide services
Ratepayer/
Client
Citizen Participation
Engage people in government’s priorities through its processes and programs
Advisor/
Volunteer
Community
Empowerment
Support community to work on its own priorities through its own associations
Producer

3. KEYS TO GENUINE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS

4. Move beyond siloed thinking

5. to focusing on whole places

6. Move beyond starting with needs

7. to starting with strengths

8. Move beyond top-down

9. to community-driven

10. STEPS AGENCIES CAN TAKE TO BE BETTER PARTNERS

11. Do No Harm: Don’t distract the community from its own priorities.
Don’t force the community into the bureaucracy’s silos.
Don’t take people’s time without showing results.
Never do for people what they can do for themselves.
Don’t treat NGOs as the surrogate for community.

12. Remove Agency Barriers:
Centralized decision making
Cookie cutter programs and regulations
Inaccessibility (location, language, hours, runaround)
Know-it-all attitude
Obsession with measuring
Bureaucratic red tape

13. Palmerston North, New Zealand

14. Build Community Capacity:
Offer leadership training
Assist with outreach tools like translation
Work with associations of all types
Provide forums for networking
Offer non-meeting options for engagement
Highlight community strengths
Share stories of successful communities
Move beyond client services and citizen participation to community empowerment