Community Planning and Engagement

Community engagement is now de rigeur in many aspects that affect our everyday lives, from service delivery to planning and development. The challenge remains of making the industry of strategies, plans and proposals both relevant and interesting; of finding the hook which will make ordinary people take notice and feel they have something useful and relevant to contribute.

The Trust is founded on principles of community engagement and active citizenship; our particular challenge is to counter the ‘negative tendency’ (the nimby syndrome) of resisting change and finding processes that will engage people in positive debate, increase their knowledge and capacity of complex processes, and allow their lived experience to inform the professional’s technical solutions.

We do this using a range of tools and techniques; we are not wedded to one in particular, preferring to adapt and customise to the community with whom we are working. Our aim is to be sensitive to the hopes and fears of local communities; to leave them more empowered and confident to make choices that contribute to sustainable communities, quality environments, and the heritage of the future.

Read more about individual projects:

Thamesgate, Thurrock: Resident involvement workshops

St George consultation, RAF Hendon

Oxmoor SRB, Huntingdon, Planning for Real