Is community engagement the next wave? From the CEO March 2018

Are we the next big thing? And if we are, will we go from a sometimes or part-time to an always?

As an outsider coming in – I’m having this conversation more and more these days. There are many observations you can make when you have completely fresh eyes. I can see the similarities between where we are as the community and stakeholder engagement sector and where the environmental sector was.

Years ago, okay maybe a decade ago, I worked in the environmental services sector at a time when it was definitely the next wave. The language had changed. It moved from global warming to climate change and the sector was evolving.

The evidence-base had been built significantly and broadly. No longer were we just worried about rising temperatures and sea levels, but changing weather patterns, air and water quality standards, and our impact on the environment. We now talked about human-induced climate change. There were many, many more indicators of the harm we were causing to our planet and to ourselves.

An example of this is the World Health Organisation in their annual World Health Report for 2008, published the deaths per 1,000 from outdoor air pollution. In China it was 0.2 to 0.3 deaths per 1,000 per annum. When you consider that their population at the time was 1.3 billion, then this was 260,000 to 390,000 people that died that year from outdoor air pollution – a factor of human-induced climate change.

Internationally, significant and controversial steps were being taken. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in 1997, but not entered into force until 2005. This extended the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Countries, politicians, and large multi-national organisations were concerned, as were all the smaller businesses that operated in the 192 regions that signed the Kyoto treaty. It was a noisy time.

Suddenly, the voice built by our ‘greenies and tree-huggers’ (as they were affectionately called) in the 1960s and 70s, was joined by scientists, intellectuals, politicians, philanthropists, the occasional world-famous actor and global organisations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organisation. Suddenly, a grass roots conversation had become a global advocacy campaign.

It was becoming harder to remain a deniest!

Increasing consumerism over decades had created a raft of environmental challenges, however consumers were now starting to make a conscious choice to choose environmentally friendly products and buy food with low Co2 levels.

Consumers recognised tokenism when they saw it, but also valued innovation and genuine efforts to reduce, re-use, recycle and other efforts made to minimise environmental impact. There were and continue to be great education campaigns and investment in raising awareness and behaviour change programmes (perhaps not enough – but we are on the right path). There are also a significant number of awards and accolades each year for environmental and sustainable innovation and achievement.

So why do I think that there are similarities between where the environmental sector was in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and where we are now?

Having now enjoyed discussions with many IAP2 members to grasp an understanding of engagement, I think we share the same recurring themes with the environmental sector. The important evidence-base, advocacy, collaborations, the needs and wants of people, awareness, education, innovation and awards.

There is a need to build a solid evidence-base on the value of community and stakeholder engagement. We need to be able to demonstrate the return on investment and the many social benefits that community and stakeholder engagement can provide, and also the financial burden and social harm of not engaging.

This robust evidence-base will continue to support the conversations around the value and importance of quality, authentic community and stakeholder engagement. It needs be part of our key messaging and support an advocacy programme that can be as equally powerful at a local level as globally.

We need to foster and encourage collaborations, particularly with key influencers like the United Nations (read about the UNESCAP project in this Engagement Matters).

We need to raise awareness, educate, invest in innovation and honour the very best of us.

We need to continue to encourage all people to shape the communities they live in, whether it be their local community or their global community.

So yes, I see these themes as similarities, and as opportunities to continue to strengthen the work of IAP2 throughout Australasia and also as part of an international Affiliate.

I hope you see these themes replicated in our draft Strategic Plan. It is ambitious and reflects your feedback throughout the consultation processes. The final draft is available for your review and feedback – if you haven’t done so already – please do complete the survey. Or you can provide your final thoughts by joining the IAP2A Board for a Q & A webinar – register here. I think we could be the next big thing. I want to see community and stakeholder engagement go from sometimes or part-time to an always. Shall we catch the wave together?