Community engagement

Why bother with community engagement, anyway?

April 11, 2010 – 9:43 pm

After a hard two weeks being labeled variously as a “mercenary”, “a hired gun of the developers” and a hopelessly naive optimist, Wendy asks why it’s important to engage in community participation. She remembers a man who dedicated his life to environmental causes and who died at 96, still campaigning. That was a life well lived, she concludes, and hopes for such a life herself. This realisation and a call form a sympathetic old friend — himself a developer — makes “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” a little easier to bear.

By Wendy | Comments (3)

A Bow of Gratitude to Bang the Table

March 5, 2010 – 5:36 pm

You may have been reading about the Australian community engagement firm, Bang the Table, recently caught up in one of those sorts of political issues that characterise community high-profile engagement – at least in some Australian states. I have been concerned that the “baby might be thrown out with the bathwater” in this case and [...]

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Evaluation: Must the Messenger Always Be Shot?

July 22, 2009 – 2:39 am

A few months ago, I was lucky enough to have to write a short piece on evaluation for a consulting report. I reviewed what I had in my library, did a quick Internet search and decided it was time to bone up on the latest. So I took myself off for two blissful days in [...]

By Wendy | Comments (0)

Why is Community Engagement Central to Achieving Sustainability?

July 15, 2009 – 2:38 am

“Sustainability Fatigue” I’m getting the feeling that our communities are being engulfed in a wave of “sustainability fatigue”. “Don’t talk to me any more about climate change,” a friend says over coffee in the Village. She cradles her coffee and mumbles, “I’ve had a gutful of all that pessimistic talk!” Two small Aboriginal children are [...]

By Wendy | Comments (1)

What’s best practice in community engagement?

July 9, 2009 – 12:45 pm

 The other day I went to a local community workshop in my small rural village. The topic is not important for my purposes and it’s not my intention to embarrass anyone. Rather I want to make a point: there’s more to community workshops than a conversation at tables, participants scribbling down a few ideas and facilitators writing [...]

By Wendy | Comments (1)

Community Engagement with People with Disability

July 6, 2009 – 2:38 am

This week, I’ve been reflecting on the responses I’ve received to my recent blog post about Mary Ann Hiserman, my friend in Berkeley who was a wheelchair user and activist for people with disability. I’ve been thinking about the actual experience of being “locked out” of an environment. And comparing it to being “locked out” [...]

By Wendy | Comments (2)

Helping Sally at Dinner: What to Say at the Dinner Table When Sustainability Comes Up?

July 5, 2009 – 7:49 pm

A conversation at dinner with friends about global climate change raises the issue of scepticism and how it’s difficult for some people to come to grips with complex information. I was reminded how difficult it is to discuss sustainability issues in certain contexts. While we use the metaphor of the “kitchen table”, the “dinner table” may be another matter completely!

By Wendy | Comments (0)

Will of the People KTS Workshops at Byron Bay: Sunday, 6 September at noon

July 1, 2009 – 7:52 pm

I will be conducting monthly workshops in collaboration with the Byron Bay-based organisation, “Will of the People” at the monthly Sunday market in Byron Bay from 12 noon to 2 pm. For market details, see: http://www.byron-bay.com/markets/ For the local weather, see: http://www.byron-bay.com/weather/index.html At the workshop each month we will work on one of the six components [...]

By Wendy | Also posted in KTS Events | Comments (0)

KTS Workshop at Kitsap County, Washington, February 2009

July 1, 2009 – 6:59 pm

I held a highly successful KTS workshop in Kitsap County, Washington State on Friday 13 February 2009. Over sixty participants attended. A video has been made of the workshop. For information, please contact Rhiannon Fernandez at rfernand@co.kitsap.wa.us or + 1 360 337 7097

By Wendy | Also posted in KTS Events | Comments (0)

KTS Lecture in Vancouver, February 2009

July 1, 2009 – 6:57 pm

I delivered a public lecture on the topic of Kitchen Table Sustainability  in Vancouver in February 2009. Also speaking was my Canadian co-author, Nancy Hofer. Why are community engagement processes failing to engage local people with sustainability issues? And what can we do about it? I took a hard look at current community engagement processes in Canada, Australia [...]

By Wendy | Also posted in KTS Events | Comments (0)