Guides

ROI of online community engagement

Digital tools dramatically bring down the cost of getting community members to participate, and engagement teams to manage projects. What exactly is the return on investment (ROI) in a digital community engagement platform?

How to create a communications plan for community engagement

Whether you’re looking to launch a project, are already running one, or are at the report-out phase, a strong communications plan will help drive the success of your efforts. This guide will teach you the basics of setting up a communications plan for your community engagement efforts.

An introduction to participatory budgeting

Participatory budgeting has emerged as one of the strongest methods of community engagement for governments looking to make their communities more inclusive and participatory. By organizing a participatory budget, you can tap directly into the collective intelligence of your community and align the allocation of public funds with real-life community needs.

Community Engagement: A Practitioner’s Guide - Part 2

Written in collaboration with the Department of Civic Things, part two of this series explores defining engagement and designing a sustainable and effective engagement strategy for your government agency.

The FAQs of digital consultation

While there is no golden rule for successful digital community engagement, there are guidelines that have proven to help you achieve your participation goals. The lessons learned and practical tips and tricks in this guide will certainly come in handy when your government launches a digital community engagement project.

Community Engagement: a Practitioner's Guide

Written in collaboration with the Department of Civic Things, part one of this two-part series explores the steps you need to take to create a sustainable and effective community engagement strategy for your government agency.

Moderating difficult conversations

In this guide, we'll take a closer look at the core responsibilities and skills of a conversation moderator, as well as some insights on the best ways to approach these challenging tasks for both online and offline conversations.

Engaging your community in urban development

More and more cities are choosing to involve residents and stakeholders in developing public spaces. In this guide, we discuss best practices on giving your community a voice in with digital tools.

We like to think that digital reaches everyone, but what if you're missing out on some groups?

Here are key principles to follow when setting a digital participation project to ensure that your platform is as inclusive and representative as possible.

How to set up an inclusive digital engagement project

Organizing digital community workshops

Community workshops are an essential part of our local democracies. These events, which are traditionally held offline, are now beginning to take place in digital spaces. How can we ensure that deliberation remains fruitful and constructive? Our practical guide helps you to organize and moderate your online debates.

6 ways to consult and engage with your community online

A practical overview of the main consultation methods for councils looking to implement digital participation and boost community engagement on a local scale.

Measuring Impact in Civic Tech

Community engagement platforms aim to improve intangible metrics such as trust,  participation and democratic dialogue. How can these be accurately measured, and why is demonstrating impact so important? This guide looks at practical measures of impact, with a special focus on community engagement platforms.