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1. Learning Outcome:
After completing this module the students will be able to:
Understand the concept of Community Engagement
Types and Process of Community Engagement
Principles of Community Engagement
Role of NGO in Community Engagement Items Description of Modules Subject Name Human resource Management
Paper Name Human resource development through community engagement Module Title Role of NGO in Community Engagement
Module Id Module No: 27
Pre-Requisites Meaning, process and importance of NGO in Community Engagement Objectives To understand the role of NGOs in community engagement
Keywords NGO, community engagement, partnership, principles, communication
1. Module No: Role of NGO in Community Engagement 2. Learning Outcome
3. Introduction
4. Community Engagement –Meaning and Importance
5. Types, benefits, Process and Principles of Community Engagement 6. Role of NGOs in Community Engagement
7. Summary
2. Introduction
Community refers to people who share a strong identity or interest. Community engagement refers to individuals that come together and form a group, hence the term community. A community is a group of people that come together that have a common set of goals, values, and work together to achieve those common goals. While community organizing involves the process of building a grassroots movement involving communities, community engagement primarily deals with the practice of moving communities toward change, usually from a stalled or similarly suspended position.
The steps are:
2.1 Determine the goals of the plan 2.2 Plan out who to engage
2.3 Develop engagement strategies for those individuals you already know 2.4 Develop engagement strategies of those individuals you do not already know 2.5 Prioritize those activities
2.6 Create an implementation plan 2.7 Monitor your progress
2.8 Maintain those relationships
3. Importance of Community Engagement
Whenever a group of practitioners gather to discuss 'what is engagement,' a discussion about diversity of language usually emerges. Depending on the situation in which you are working, 'engagement' can cover consultation, extension, communication, education, public participation, participative democracy or
working in partnership.
For our purposes, 'engagement' is used as a generic, inclusive term to describe the broad range of interactions between people. It can include a variety of approaches, such as one-way communication or information delivery, consultation, involvement and collaboration in decision-making, and empowered action in informal groups or formal partnerships.
The word 'community' is also a very broad term used to define groups of people; whether they are stakeholders, interest groups, citizen groups, etc. A community may be a geographic location (community of place), a community of similar interest (community of practice), or a community of affiliation or identity (such as industry or sporting club).
'Community engagement' is therefore a planned process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people, whether they are connected by geographic location, special interest, or affiliation or identify to address issues affecting their well-being. The linking of the term 'community' to 'engagement' serves to broaden the scope, shifting the focus from the individual to the collective, with the associated implications for inclusiveness to ensure consideration is made of the diversity that exists within any community.
Cavaye extends this definition as it specifically relates to the role of government, noting community engagement "… is the mutual communication and deliberation that occurs between government and citizens."
Community engagement can take many forms and covers a broad range of activities. Some examples of community engagement undertaken by government practitioners include:
3.1 Informing the community of policy directions of the government.
3.2 Consulting the community as part of a process to develop government policy, or build community awareness and understanding.
3.3 Involving the community through a range of mechanisms to ensure that issues and concerns are understood and considered as part of the decision-making process.
3.4 Collaborating with the community by developing partnerships to formulate options and provide recommendations.
3.5 Empowering the community to make decisions and to implement and manage change.
4. Community Engagement: Types, Process and Principles
4.1 Types of Community Engagement
4.1.1 Extrinsic Motivation: a drive to engage in an activity because of a reward to engage in the activity or a punishment for not engaging.
4.1.2 Intrinsic Motivation: an inner drive to engage in an activity for its own sake because it is interesting and satisfying in itself.
“Community Engagement is all about collective effort of all”
The process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the wellbeing of those people.
It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioral changes that will improve the health of the community and its members. It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices.
Community engagement can take many forms, and partners can include organized groups, agencies, institutions, or individuals. Collaborators may be engaged in health promotion, research, or policy making. Community engagement can also be seen as a continuum of community involvement. Most notably, while community engagement may be achieved during a time limited project, it frequently involves — and often evolves into — long-term partnerships that move from the traditional focus on a single health issue to address a range of social, economic, political, and environmental factors that affect health.
4.2 Benefits of Community Engagement
A recent review of the literature on community engagement identified nine areas in which community engagement made a positive impact (Staley, 2009). Although this study focused on research partnerships,
many of its findings are relevant to community engagement in general. The nine areas and the corresponding benefits were as follows:
4.2.1 Agenda—Engagement changes the choice and focus of projects, how they are initiated, and their potential to obtain funding. New areas for collaboration are identified, and funding that requires community engagement becomes accessible.
4.2.2 Design and delivery—Improvements to study design, tools, interventions, representation/participation, data collection and analysis, communication, and dissemination can be implemented. New interventions or previously unappreciated causal links can be identified through the community’s knowledge of local circumstances. The speed and efficiency of the project can be enhanced by rapidly engaging partners and participants and identifying new sources of information.
4.2.3 Implementation and change—Improvements can be made in the way research findings are used to bring about change (e.g., through new or improved services, policy or funding changes, or transformation of professional practices), and capacity for change and the maintenance of long-term partnerships can be expanded.
4.2.4 Ethics—Engagement creates opportunities to improve the consent process, identify ethical pitfalls, and create processes for resolving ethical problems when they arise.
4.2.5 The public involved in the project—The knowledge and skills of the public involved in the project can be enhanced, and their contributions can be recognized (possibly through financial rewards). These efforts foster goodwill and help lay the groundwork for subsequent collaborations.
4.2.6 Academic partners—Academic partners can gain enhanced understanding of the issue under study and appreciation of the role and value of community involvement, which sometimes result in direct career benefits. In addition, new insights into the relevance of a project and the various benefits to be gained from it can result in increased opportunities to disseminate its findings and their wider use.
4.2.7 Individual research participants—Improvements in the way studies are carried out can make it easier to participate in them and bring benefits to participants.
4.2.8 Community organizations—These organizations can gain enhanced knowledge, a higher profile in the community, more linkages with other community members and entities, and new organizational capacity. These benefits can create goodwill and help lay the groundwork for subsequent collaborations.
4.2.9 The general public—The general public is likely to be more receptive to the research and reap greater benefits from it.
The author of the review acknowledged that there can be costs associated with community engagement (e.g., increased time and other resource needs, the need to develop new skill sets, increased expectations) but contended that these are more than outweighed by the positive impacts and generally can be addressed over time through training and experience (Staley, 2009).
Community engagement takes a variety of forms. The four types are:
- Community engagement with a focus on community development or community building - Community participation in consultation and decision-making
- Community engagement that helps organisations, businesses etc. to improve their service delivery or to achieve their goals
- Community engagement as part of social change movements or as part of the work of voluntary community organizations
4.3 Process of Community Engagement
NGOs can structure their community engagement with the focus coming from the top of the organizations, either globally or locally, or from employees on the ground. Most organizations tend to use a combination of approaches, with many preferring to provide a clear structure with the flexibility to reflect the needs of individual markets.
4.3.1 Define a vision
Define your vision or sense of purpose for community engagement. It might include what the company stands for, how it sees its role and what legacy it wants to leave. Whitbread’s vision is: “To be a leader in the field of partnerships between business, the community and the public sector, demonstrating that working together for the common good is a responsibility of the Company and good business practice.”
It is very important for the organisation to accomplish their short term and long term goals with a vision that suits with the needs and concerns of the community, where they demand change.
4.3.2 Planning a programme
Consult communities, local NGOs, employees and other stakeholders to identify the local communities’
most pressing needs and establish where you can most effectively help, matched to your expertise and business objectives. If you are already engaged in community activities, assess which ones are working well and which are not. Identify your selection criteria for which projects you will support, and make sure it is clear and transparent.
4.3.3 Delivering the programme
Decide whether you are going to implement the community engagement programme yourself or work with local partners. Find out which programmes and initiatives already operate locally that you could support, what type of expertise, skills and delivery capacity already exists, and which projects have worked well in the past. Plan how roles and responsibilities will evolve and consider what will be needed to sustain the activity in your absence by ensuring partners are equipped to eventually take over.
4.3.4 Plan capacity-building
Identify which of the interested parties, from employees to NGOs, local government and community groups, will need skills training, management know-how, technical advice, etc. Then decide what type of capacity-building, from training to secondments and mentoring, will be most appropriate.
4.3.5 Decide on budget and resources
The International Finance Corporation says community engagement budgets should be needs-driven not budget-driven, although in reality they are normally budget-driven. In any case, companies should provide regular, flexible funding that can respond to changing circumstances at various stages of the programme, from the planning stage to the project end.
4.3.6 Measure the value of the programmes
Monitor and evaluate your community engagement programme. This will enable your company to allocate money, time and other resources to achieve the highest social value as well as driving performance improvements, increasing the credibility of the investment and making it easier to communicate the business and community value.
4.3.7 Communicate
Identify the various audiences, from senior management to local communities and the investor community, and tailor the message to each group using a range of communications channels, from the media to community meetings, government briefings and brochures. Getting guests involved in some aspect of community engagement is a powerful way of communicating what your company is doing
4.4 Principles of Community Engagement
Atlee et al (2009) have identified seven principles of public engagement which are useful when thinking about engaging the community in consultation and decision making.
4.4.1 Careful Planning and Preparation
Through adequate and inclusive planning, ensure that the design, organization, and convening of the process serve both a clearly defined purpose and the needs of the participants.
4.4.2 Inclusion and Demographic Diversity
Equitably incorporate diverse people, voices, ideas, and information to lay the groundwork for quality outcomes and democratic legitimacy.
4.4.3 Collaboration and Shared Purpose
Support and encourage participants, government and community institutions, and others to work together to advance the common good.
4.4.4 Openness and Learning
Help all involved listen to each other, explore new ideas unconstrained by predetermined outcomes, learn and apply information in ways that generate new options, and rigorously evaluate public engagement activities for effectiveness.
4.4.5 Transparency and Trust
Be clear and open about the process, and provide a public record of the organizers, sponsors, outcomes, and range of views and ideas expressed.
4.4.6 Impact and Action
Ensure each participatory effort has real potential to make a difference, and that participants are aware of that potential.
4.4.7 Sustained Engagement and Participatory Culture
Promote a culture of participation with programs and institutions that support ongoing quality public engagement.
Community engagement refers to the process by which community benefits organizations and individuals build ongoing, permanent relationship for the purpose of applying a collective vision for the benefit of a community. Engagement can covers, consultation, communication, education, public participation, participative democracy/ working in partnership. It is generally a broad range of interactions with others.
It may include variety of approaches such as one-way communication, information delivery, consultation, involvement and collaboration in decision making and empowered action in informal groups/formal partnership.
Community engagement can take many forms and partners like organised groups, agencies, institutions or individual collaborates may be engaged in health promotion, research and policy making.
4.4 Why Community engagement matters?
It is actually a process of building a relationship with the community members who will work sincerely side with you as an citizen / community people are ‘engaged’ when they play a meaningful role in the deliberations, discussions, decision making and / implementation of projects /programmes affecting them.
Accordingly, organizational and government leaders, need to be broaden the way they see their responsibilities to include roles as facilitator, mediator, supporter, collaborator and empower of citizens and stakeholders.
Source: https://in.pinterest.com/source/museumtwo.blogspot.com/
5. Role of NGOs in Community Engagement
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a nonprofit organization that is independent of governments and international governmental organizations. They are usually funded by donations but some avoid formal funding altogether and are run primarily by volunteers. NGOs are highly diverse groups of organizations engaged in a wide range of activities, and take different forms in different parts of the world. Some may have charitable status, while others may be registered for tax exemption based on recognition of social purposes.
Some NGOs see themselves as champions of the poor, lobbying government to give them a better deal. Others play a watchdog role, ensuring that governments and utilities remain honest, focused on serving the people. A third variety prefers to focus at ground level, finding ways to bring communities together to provide basic services to those in most need. Many look to combine these roles within one organisation.
It is the most visible way an organisation can demonstrate its ethics. It entails many different kinds of initiatives and actions, from donations to community partnerships, employee volunteering to work placements, but generally involves a company giving its resources in the form of time, money and products or services to a social or environmental cause.
Partnerships can struggle to accommodate these different visions, making it hard to harness the skills, abilities and local contacts that NGOs offer to best effect. NGOs themselves can be torn between engaging other stakeholders in order to provoke change from the inside and maintaining their independence from the outside.
Equally, how partnerships can engage and relate to poor communities is not straightforward. In some cases Community-Based Organizations are preferred to NGOs as partners. NGOs are working internationally and locally based development and cooperation to build flourishing communities from
vulnerable communities so that people can live with dignity, safely, have a voice and have access to quality and affordable basic human services. Thereby, offering access to opportunities to realise their potential and participate in social, economical, cultural and spiritual life.
Many NGOs have drawn inspiration from how rural communities are brought together over water supply and sanitation. Urban settings pose particular technical and institutional challenges and require a variety of locally-based management arrangements. Bringing NGOs into a partnership arrangement can be challenging. Here we look at the pros and cons of contracting in NGO support.
Community participation in decision-making should be promoted at every stage. Any organisation
‘representing’ the community must have a clear mandate from the community. A clear exit strategy should also be publicized, with the community steadily replacing the NGO. A capacity-building programme, where communities receive clear information is also integral. Timing is another issue requiring careful consideration. Multi-sector partnerships often rely on NGOs to represent the interests of civil society. Given that NGOs are often reluctant to work within a contractual framework, institutionalizing their involvement in multi-sector partnerships can pose challenges. This practitioner note reviews the main issues, challenges and approaches associated with contracting NGOs
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have played a major role in pushing for sustainable development at the international level. Campaigning groups have been key drivers of inter-governmental negotiations, ranging from the regulation of hazardous wastes to a global ban on land mines and the elimination of slavery.
But NGOs are not only focusing their energies on governments and inter-governmental processes. With the retreat of the state from a number of public functions and regulatory activities, NGOs have begun to
fix their sights on powerful corporations - many of which can rival entire nations in terms of their resources and influence.
Aided by advances in information and communications technology, NGOs have helped to focus attention on the social and environmental externalities of business activity. Multinational brands have been acutely susceptible to pressure from activists and from NGOs eager to challenge a company's labour, environmental or human rights record. Even those businesses that do not specialize in highly visible branded goods are feeling the pressure, as campaigners develop techniques to target downstream customers and shareholders.
Community engagement helps organizations and enterprises to make decisions and achieve the greatest value for money possible for what they do. This has positive outcomes for individuals, communities, services and strategy – examples include:
5.1 What is the purpose and scope of the NGOs in engagement process?
From the outset be clear about the scope and purpose of the engagement process. For example, is the process designed to:
Identify or prioritize what the needs and priorities for Community Planning should be.
Develop a consensus on a proposal or plan.
Inform the decision-making or service delivery of a community, council or department.
Develop new or collaborative ways of implementing elements of the Community Plan.
Review progress on the Community Plan.
5.2 What can you do for Community Engagement process?
5.2.1 Art and Creativity
Some forms of community engagement are particularly good at encouraging participation and generating interest and ideas.
These include:
• Photography: disposable cameras can be given to people of all ages to capture their likes and dislikes in an area. The results can be exhibited to generate further discussion or to promote additional events.
• Vox Pops: short, snappy interviews with people in different locations and at different times (radio or television). Like photographs the results can be displayed and discussed more widely.
• Songs, poems, and artwork: invite people to submit (possibly for a prize) a song, poem or art piece which describes their area, changes they would like to see, their ideal home or environment.
• TV game shows: adopt and adapt popular TV game or quiz shows to generate interest and ideas, test local knowledge and/or understanding of project plans and processes.
Strengths Weaknesses
Suitable for all age groups
Interactive and engaging
Enables participants to express their creativity
Can help develop a common vision
Participants confidence in their creative skills
Often a large space is required to exhibit or display results
It may be difficult to interpret participant’s ideas
Can be exhibited to generate further discussion
Appropriateness
Art and Creative methods are appropriate where you want to involve local people in expressing their views and generating ideas in a participative approach. They are a useful technique for engaging with people of all ages through education or school programmes, local community forums and resident or interest groups. They may be beneficial at the beginning of a community planning process to generate interest and raise awareness of the process.
5.2.2 Community Mapping
Maps and photographs of an area or specific location are used to illustrate how people view their area:
what they like or dislike or improvements they would like to see. Ideas are generated in small group discussions and recorded on ‘post-its ‘or pre-prepared cards. Discussions should be facilitated to help people explore issues, build consensus or identify areas of conflict. They are the one who are residing in that community and what should be done in future, to be prioritized and finalized by them. Community mapping helps us to know the community resources in a better way.
Strengths Weaknesses
Stimulates discussion
Can build a sense of community ownership
Can help people see and understand their community in different ways
Can generate ideas which are not possible to implement
It may be difficult to interpret participants’ ideas Participants need to be familiar with the local area
Scottish Participatory Initiatives Community Mapping and Action Planning http://scottishparticipatoryinitiatives.co.uk
Appropriateness
Community mapping is a useful way to engage people of all levels of capability. A variety of aspects can be mapped including land use, community assets, facilities, and transport options to develop a snapshot of an area. Mapping can be carried out using a variety of materials from chalk to sand depending on the situation.
5.2.3 Public Meetings
Public meetings provide an opportunity to consult large numbers of people. Meetings can be organised to allow for small group discussions with oral feedback. There are often opportunities for participants to set or influence the agenda and to ask questions. From our experience small groups are an essential element of public meeting to engage people effectively.
Strengths Weaknesses
Enables large numbers of people to have their say
Provides an opportunity to explain processes, give information and gather feedback
Demonstrates openness and transparency
Can attract publicity or be used as a launch event
Enables participants to develop networks
Unlikely to be representative - not everyone has the time or inclination to attend
Attendance is often low unless people feel personally or deeply concerned
Some people are likely to be inhibited from speaking in a large group
Traditional formats can limit audience contribution and lead to conflict
If confrontational it may lead to poor media publicity
Appropriateness
Participants may feel unable to get involved or be unwilling to attend. As part of a series of events they can be a valuable way of sharing information and demonstrating openness and transparency.
Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership – Garioch
http://www.ouraberdeenshire.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=54 5.2.4 Workshops and Focus Groups
Workshops and focus groups allow people to discuss their ideas in an open and relaxed atmosphere.
Workshops can take a variety of formats. They can be designed to exchange information; to discuss the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an idea or project; to obtain ideas and innovative thinking for a way forward for a project; or they can be specifically geared towards prioritisation and the production of an action plan.
Strengths Weaknesses
Encourages active discussion in a welcoming environment
Time and resource efficient way of identifying and clarifying key issues
Conflict can be more easily handled in a small group
Can be designed for a specific purpose
Can be directly targeted at excluded or ‘hard to reach groups’ for example young people or ethnic minorities
With small groups, it is difficult to be sure all stakeholders or interests are represented
Workshops can be dominated by articulate and confident individuals if not carefully facilitated Requires experienced facilitators
Appropriateness
Workshops and Focus Groups are useful methods for encouraging discussion among those who may feel less confident in a larger group. The main benefit is that participants or certain interest groups can be targeted and therefore those often excluded from a wider engagement exercise can be identified and invited to attend this type of event.
There is various kind of forum where you can engage the community people for their betterment. For the success of any programme, it is important to plan, organise and execute it with the help of the community people. The more they engage the probability of success will be increased.
5.4 The benefits for communities
There are many ways communities benefit from NGOs community engagement, including:
5.4.1Access to jobs and livelihood development
Providing employment and building capacity to give people the skills, ability and confidence to earn a living and take a leading role in developing their communities is an essential element of community engagement. It helps address local unemployment, a major contributing factor to child poverty, ill health, crime and homelessness, and promotes self-reliance. As part of their community engagement programmes, Organizations often support projects that promote new types of livelihoods, particularly where current activities are unsustainable.
5.4.2 Environmental improvements
Many community engagement initiatives focus on enhancing the local environment, particularly in the tourism and hospitality sectors where business depends on the quality of the surroundings. Whether the focus of activities is environmental education, clean-ups, wildlife or water conservation, recycling or energy efficiency, the result for communities should be an improved quality of life and more efficient use of resources.
5.4.3 Health and education improvements
In areas where diseases, such as malaria or HIV/AIDS, are rife, community engagement programmes will often focus on health issues, whether it is raising health awareness among community people or supporting medical care, health talks, health camps, mobile health van in the slum community, when people finds difficulty in reaching to the community, NGO people reaches to them for more accessibility of health services for all. Many community programmes also focus on improving educational opportunities for local people, from building schools to offering scholarships. Parents also contribute in the improvement of education by becoming a part of the School Management Committee.
5.4.4 Infrastructure and facilities investment
Companies will often help to develop new infrastructure, such as roads or public utilities, in ways that complement or help fulfill local needs. This is particularly so for high-end hotels in developing countries, which often have to create infrastructure where none existed before. Businesses will also fund NGOs specializing in infrastructure development in the countries where they do business. Whitbread, in partnership with Water Aid, is funding a water project in 30 slums around Jajmau in Kanpur, India, which is creating self-help groups to build new and repair existing water sources, train mechanics to sustain and manage water and sanitation facilities, and construct child-friendly toilets.
Summary
Through this chapter we are emphasizing the role of the NGO in community participation and engagement and how the NGO plays a significant role in building effective capacity for citizens. We are very much clear from the definitions given above that the community engagement is all about (1) decision making, (2) relationship development, or (3) capacity building. Engagement will proceed when it is beneficial for the participants and or otherwise people of the community find themselves reluctant to participate in the programme. Community engagement is a key to community Development.
Transformation will take place when community will rise and think, plan, organise, and execute the things together.
