‘We’ thinking – the new driver in community engagement

Australia needs more than $874 billion worth of infrastructure to meet its economic growth.

Increasing pressure on grass roots communities is driving government to explain the impact this infrastructure will have on their lives.

The community engagement process has never been more important to get right the first time. However, there has been a paradigm shift in the engagement process.

The Public Participation Spectrum is a sound concept, but it’s flawed. It shifts the balance of power and outcome away from ‘We’ thinking, to ‘They’ thinking – ‘They’ being the engaged community rather than the elected government, or organization charged with the overall responsibility of the initiative.

The new drivers of community engagement capture the ‘We’ thinking process to inform communication strategies and build significantly improved outcomes.

‘Productive Conversations’ is one of the new drivers of the ‘We’ thinking process.

It is based on policy risk assessments, risk awareness, message mapping, public mood shifts and communication tactics and technologies.

There is a way to achieve the best outcome for government and community first time around – it just takes a small paradigm shift to bring all parties into the engagement fold on an shared understanding with consideration for the bigger picture.

‘We’ thinking is here now and will stay; it just needs to be approached with the appropriate communication strategy.