Intervention #2Co-create standards for engagement with communities.
The problem
All too often, institutions practice “engagement” on their own terms. Institutions determine the methods, the place, and the rules and expect the communities they engage to show up and participate. This type of engagement is transactional, inaccessible, and at times harmful.
When we asked residents in our community design sessions how they like to be engaged, they had a lot to say. What emerged is the importance of going through an intentional process of developing “the rules of engagement” alongside those you intend to engage. We also learned that engagement needs to be highly contextualized in Boston — there are few cookie cutter engagement practices that will be highly effective in all Boston communities. Rather, practices should be contextualized to match the culture, communication, and social fabric of the specific community. This one question, “How do you like to be engaged?” produced such rich discussion and valuable content that it became central to the prototypes we designed alongside the community design teams. You can see the Community Inclusion Plan and Development 101 pamphlet below.
“It is important for those who have power to work with community members, to listen with the intent of learning from us where the gaps and barriers are. Treat us like we matter, work with us to create solutions to the problems, don't dictate to us what you think you know is best. We are individually experts in our own lives and in community we take care of each other, we share the hurt, the frustrations and we talk to each other to solve the problems. Work with us in the same way - together, not as adversaries.”
- Maridena Rojas, Community Engagement Manager at The Boston Project Ministries, PCGN Core Team Member
What can be done
IDEA 1Co-create community inclusion plans
Facilitate workshops in communities to understand best practices for inclusive engagement, specific to demographic, cultural, and social context of the community. Allow the final plan to inform all engagement within that community and serve to hold the BPDA and developers accountable for inclusive practices.
IDEA 2Adopt customer service-like practices
Train community-facing staff in effective customer services practices. Such practices should prioritize listening well, showing empathy and concern, a commitment to providing or finding answers.
IDEA 3Disseminate community-informed educational materials
Work with communities to understand gaps in understanding as it relates to development and the BPDA. Develop educational materials to fill the identified gaps, iterating with residents to ensure quality and accessibility. Be sure that all materials are in plain language, utilize more graphics and fewer words, and are translated into many languages to maximize accessibility.
IDEA 4Prioritize language inclusivity in all interactions and communications
Use plain speech in written and verbal communications, avoiding jargon and acronyms. Provide language translation and interpretation as appropriate for the community being engaged.
IDEA 5Aggressively lower barriers to engagement
Consider real and potential barriers for engagement in any given community. Make every effort to work with community groups/orgs to remove barriers. This may include providing both in-person and virtual meetings, conducting door-to-door outreach, providing childcare for meetings, etc.
IDEA 6Provide workshops for developers
While there are limitations to what BPDA can require of developers, there is still opportunity to help developers understand best practices for engaging with communities. Developers and communities alike suffer when interactions are unnecessarily contentious. BPDA should work with developers who are well-respected in communities to develop workshops on best-practices for engaging communities and promoting equity in development.