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Community Engagement
Being able to talk to people on their own terms, convert complicated concepts and professional jargon into Plain English, inspire people, capture their views and then make sure they make a difference, are all essential ingredients of successful community engagement.
At SRC, we use a mix of innovative and tried and tested techniques to make sure all our community engagement programmes do what they say on the tin.
| • | our outreach work with rarely heard groups ensures that everyone in a community has the chance to understand the issues clearly and feels able to express their views |
| • | our schools programmes inspire large numbers of young people to make a real contribution to the future of their neighbourhoods |
| • | our walkabouts and neighbourhood profiling provide a unique insight into how communities 'tick', their social capital and networks |
| • | our community sounding boards provide a vital forum for communities engaged in neighbourhood change, ensuring that local people's views are not only heard, but also acted on |
| • | our lifestyle and aspirations surveys provide a vital evidence base for regeneration agencies developing proposals for neighbourhood change |
| • | our focus groups, drop-ins and ‘events in a tent' are always interactive, frequently attracting between them many hundreds of local residents. We make them fun as well as informative and challenging |
Our wealth of experience in community engagement includes:
| • | setting up and running community engagement programmes as part of urban and neighbourhood masterplanning commissions. We have worked with many of the national and international planning consultancies as well as on our own |
| • | working directly for private sector housebuilders to engage with communities about major development opportunities. We are currently working with Bellway PLC and have recently completed work with Grainger Trust |
| • | working with local authorities to engage communities in the statutory planning process, including Local Development Frameworks and Area Action Plans. We have carried out recent commissions for Newcastle, Sunderland and Leeds City Councils |
| • | working with housing associations and other social landlords on major new development projects and the remodelling of existing estates |
| • | working directly with community-led organisations, including New Deal for Communities and Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder programmes, most recently in Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Newcastle Upon Tyne, Stockton on Tees and Hattersley, Tameside |
We also work on a wide range of other stakeholder and community engagement programmes, with projects as varied as Sure Start, museum relocations, race equality, rural community appraisals, new urban district centres, community forests and community involvement in partnership working.
Relevant projects:
Hartlepool Community Housing Plan
Hull, West Hull Community Engagement Programme
Gateshead Neighbourhood Action Plans
Burnley Neighbourhood Masterplans
Gresham Neighbourhood Action Plan, Middlesbrough