While community engagement is increasingly important for governments who want to strengthen relationships with their constituents, its data-driven insights are most valuable when they fully represent the views of the whole community.
After all, If we don’t engage with voices from marginalised and under-represented groups in our society, we risk delivering project outcomes that fail to serve the needs of the most vulnerable in our communities.
In this article we will look at effective outreach strategies to engage marginalised and under-represented groups in the community, and consider how to use digital and traditional engagement tools to reach and engage those communities too often left behind.
Understanding under-represented communities
At the heart of the practice of community engagement is the need to understand the community we serve. We listen to our communities and encourage them to share their insights and feedback because we know it results in better policy and project outcomes.
But when it comes to under-represented community groups, our task is more difficult. Language barriers, disabilities, socio-economic factors and cultural differences can limit their ability to contribute to community engagement projects.
Before we rush out to try to engage with these groups, we need to deepen our understanding of the barriers they face. A great way to achieve this is to foster relationships with community group leaders, local organisations and individuals within the community who can give us an insight into community dynamics and barriers to participation. These barriers might include:
- Language
- Accessibility
- Socio-economic factors
- Cultural or familial expectations
- Gender and sexuality
- Age
Only when we understand the issues that prevent participation in community engagement, can we start to develop strategies to address them.
Harnessing the power of digital engagement platforms
It’s important to design a thoughtful engagement campaign that will encourage the contributions of under-represented groups. In practice, this simply means to use as wide a variety of tools as possible, in order to reach a wide range of people.
A digital engagement platform, such as District Engage, can help here. Not only are the tools easy to deploy, but the messaging can easily be targeted to different audiences. In addition, the benefit of instant reporting allows you to confirm that your messaging is reaching the right people.
Let’s take a quick look at the benefits of using digital engagement tools:
Surveys and quick polls
Surveys and quick polls gather specific information about a community’s priorities and concerns. Ensuring the survey questions are concise, culturally sensitive, and address language barriers and literacy levels, will help you engage different audiences within your community.
Surveys and quick polls are ideal for targeting specific audiences on social media.
Mapping tools
Interactive mapping tools are a powerful tool that helps people to visualise how a project will affect their community. You can pinpoint areas of interest, such as potential sites for community programs, public services or infrastructure development, and illustrate before/after scenarios.
These visual aids are very effective engagement tools for people with language barriers or low literacy levels, and can encourage feedback on specific aspects of a project.
Online discussions
Online forums are an opportunity for community members to engage in discussions, express their opinions and collaborate with others. Be sure to foster a safe and respectful environment that encourages open dialogue and welcomes diverse perspectives.
Q & A
A Q&A tool allows people to engage with the project in their own time. This tool lets you post questions and have industry experts and/or project managers respond in open, threaded discussions. This simple tool promotes transparency and accountability, and is an ideal way to build trust and understanding across all sections of the community.
Reporting and analytics
The ability to get instant feedback and analysis is one of the leading benefits of a digital engagement platform. District Engage allows you to drill down into the performance of each tool as well as the demographics engaging with your campaign, and measure this against your KPIs. If you are not reaching those targeted communities, it’s time to tweak your messaging or pivot to a different communication channel.
Blending digital and traditional engagement activities
While digital platforms offer many benefits for engaging with marginalised communities, don’t overlook the value of traditional outreach activities. Combine the following strategies with your digital efforts to ensure a comprehensive approach:
Town hall forums
In-person or virtual town hall forums facilitate face-face interactions between project administrators and community members. These forums allow for open dialogue, active listening and the opportunity to directly address community concerns. Good outreach practices include the following:
- Translation services
- Full disabled access
- Convenient scheduling
- Childcare
- Transportation for the elderly or people from remote communities.
Community events
Community meetings, pop-up events, community BBQs, information sessions and street-stalls are tried-and-tested methods for community engagement. To ensure these events attract people from across your community, and are welcoming for marginalised groups, provide translation services and address accessibility issues. A digital engagement platform like District Engage offers an event planning tool for engagement managers.
Community events also offer an opportunity to liaise with your cultural ambassadors to encourage grassroots participation. Consider the impact of providing food trucks, traditional music and children’s activities at an information session designed to encourage community engagement in a local project?
Focus groups
Consider holding focused discussions or focus groups to get deeper insights into specific issues affecting under-represented communities. Recruit participants from these communities and use their insights and expertise to craft considered engagement strategies.
Cultivating effective communication strategies
Along with an inclusive engagement strategy, an effective communication strategy is essential for any community engagement project. Communication channels including digital, social, newsletter, advertising, face-to-face (such as door-knocking and town hall forums) are at the coal face of inclusive outreach strategies. Here are some ideas to consider in your communication plan:
Cultivate community ambassadors
Reach out to respected individuals and grassroots organisations that represent marginalised communities. Collaborating with these ambassadors can help bridge cultural gaps, build trust and help to facilitate effective communication.
Multilingual outreach
Provide information in multiple languages, especially for important communications. Consider using translators or digital translation tools for public presentations, town hall forums and other face-to-face meetings, and ensure your print materials and translation tools include a range of language groups specific to your location.
Culturally sensitive messaging
Set a welcoming tone by incorporating messaging that acknowledges and respects the cultural values and beliefs of under-represented communities. Be careful to avoid assumptions and stereotypes and use language that resonates with the community groups you are engaging with.
Effective outreach strategies for community engagement require a thoughtful and multifaceted approach. By leveraging digital engagement platforms, incorporating traditional outreach activities and implementing an effective communications strategy, community engagement managers can create an inclusive environment that attracts deeper engagement from across the community and help deliver improved project outcomes for everyone.
