What have we learnt from a year of digital and distanced community engagement?
Just over a year ago, the sudden and unprecedented restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked the public sector into new, often digital ways of engaging with their local communities. In early May 2020, Public Practice brought together Associates working in a variety of community engagement roles to discuss how they were rethinking their strategies and embracing new digital tools. How would it be possible, we wondered, to continue meaningful engagement if face-to-face contact was restricted? And what would that look like?
A year on, join us as we reflect on a year during which we’ve learnt to engage differently. What worked well? What have we missed out on? And – as restrictions begin to lift – how can we combine the best of both digital and non-digital methods to produce the most effective community engagement?
SPEAKERS
Beth Murray, Keep Chingford Green Community Group - Waltham Forest
Deborah Efemini, Project Manager for Regeneration and Place at LB Lewisham
Grace Crannis, Public Practice Associate and Senior Planning Engagement Officer at LB Richmond & Wandsworth
Verity Jane Keefe, Artist
Jessica Cargill Thompson, Public Practice Alumnus and Community Engagement Officer for Waltham Forest (chair)
General Info
Organiser