Co-Design: A New Approach for Successful Community Engagement
Community growth requires the successful navigation of many moving parts. Whether securing funding, preparing a strategic plan, or carrying a project across the finish line, a vital factor in successful completion is collaborative community engagement. Often discarded until the end of the process, neglecting community engagement planning can lead to missteps, project delays, and misunderstandings among stakeholders.
Frequently, the communication process is linear, meaning once a solution has been identified, it is then “sold” to the community, leaving local buy-in and support to chance. To achieve durable community-driven growth, leaders must adopt a different approach.
Co-Design as a Community Engagement Strategy
Co-design, also known as participatory design, involves collaborative creation alongside those who will be most affected by the outcome.
Rather than simply creating solutions for them, this approach prioritizes the participation of the individuals who will be impacted by the design, project, or initiative bringing them into the process from inception. Participants remain actively engaged throughout development, directly shaping solutions. They function as equal partners in an ongoing, collaborative planning and design effort instead of serving as research subjects or external advisors.
The Value of Local Insight in Co-Design
While every community member may not have the technical expertise to design infrastructure, create policy, or devise a budget, they are the end-users of projects in the community and possess a lived and experiential expertise of how they function. Recognizing and valuing a community’s insights and unique characteristics allows them to be used in problem-solving as an asset for change.
Common characteristics to observe:
- Demographics
- Degree and engagement of community leadership
- History of collaboration in the community
- Willingness of key players to get involved
- Financial and human resources required to move a project forward
- Community knowledge and passion about the project
Ultimately, co-design means more than acknowledging what makes a community unique—it requires communities to own the process itself.
Partner with EDG to Elevate Your Community Engagement Planning
Community engagement requires time, resources, passion, leadership and vulnerability. Partnering with a team experienced in gathering input and listening to the voice of a community can help navigate the needed shift from conventional engagement methods to true partnership.
Learn more about EDG Creative’s community engagement services or contact us to get started on building stronger, more connected communities.