From the Board with Margie Harvie – onwards and upwards

Some of us recently reminisced that just 20 years ago it was possible to call every community engagement professional in Australia within one day. Today we have come a long way but it still feels like our profession has a long way to go.

In early 2018 the IAP2 Australasia Board adopted its Strategic Plan. This followed engagement on a draft plan with members. The Plan supports initiatives for advancing our profession and the possibilities are exciting.

The Plan recognises that some feel that our profession would be better recognised through the creation of a university based course, perhaps a post graduate qualification in community engagement. This makes way for a professional pathway for new or prospective entrants. A university course will peg us alongside our professional colleagues with similar qualifications. IAP2 is continuing discussions with universities to encourage this to occur.

IAP2 is continuing to create a professional recognition program for individual professionals. The realisation of this will mean that we will be able to be identified as ethical and experienced engagement professionals.

My favourite initiative of the Plan is the mentor program. I look forward to IAP2 introducing me to a mentee matched to what we offer each other and being able to refer emerging professionals to the program.

The Plan also encourages us to learn more about worldwide examples of practice and research. This information, along with the IAP2 international quality assurance standards, will be used to improve our practice. I look forward to using the quality assessment audit tool to compare the projects that I am involved with against practice across the world.

It is my hope that as a result of IAP2 advocating for the practice we will be regularly hearing from IAP2 spokespersons in the media and on programs such as The Panel and Q&A. Such exposure would provide a great opportunity to respond to community issues and promote the potential for the public to influence decision making. I also look forward to hearing from senior executives seeking community engagement skills and knowing the difference between what we offer and what corporate media and communication professionals have to offer.

I hope to see an ongoing commitment to a community engagement function for every government agency, and demand for community engagement skills by governance boards.

The Plan starts us on a journey towards a vision many of us have held for quite some time – that our profession is recognised and understood outside the realms of our immediate workplace.