Involve, inform and consult
Projects | Community Engagement and Sustainable Development
Does engaging communities in sustainable development make any difference? If people are involved in making their communities more sustainable will they change their behaviour towards more sustainable lifestyles? What is the impact of sustainable development community action on the people involved in the action?
These were some of the questions that WWF UK had begun exploring in 2006 and CAG Consultants became involved to seek out the research evidence that ‘proved’ the impact. However, at that time there wasn’t much evidence about. And so the Community Engagement and Sustainable Development Project was born.
The project has worked with lots of sustainable development practitioners to develop an evaluation tool that measures the behaviour change that results from community engagement.
The project has involved stakeholders and community members in the design of the evaluation tool from the first drawing board sketches right through to how the interactive web site works, and are still involved in developing different versions of the tool and its associated resources for different settings. Most recently the tool has been adapted for use in a prison, but it has also been used by a Scottish Island community, local energy champions within a workplace, home energy advisers and conservation workers.
The tool provides an effective way of tracking community engagement activity and providing real information on the impact the activity has had on the participants.
Emma Cranidge
01706 817 347
ec@cagconsult.co.uk
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