Use the Engagement Methods Tool to find the right tool for your community and stakeholder engagement project.
Social networking site based on users’ professional expertise.
Pop-Ups are short-term, mobile engagement activations set up in busy community locations like markets, shopping centres, festivals, or public transport hubs. These highly visible and accessible stalls or booths are designed to catch people “where they already are,” offering simple and engaging opportunities to learn about an issue and provide quick input — often through […]
An Online Open House is a digital engagement method that replicates the experience of a traditional community open house — but in an online format that people can access anytime. These platforms typically host key project information (maps, FAQs, timelines, visuals) and offer interactive tools like surveys, Q&A boards, or comment maps to collect feedback. […]
Kitchen Table Conversations are informal, small-group discussions held in relaxed settings — often around someone’s kitchen table, at a local café, or even virtually. These conversations are typically led by trusted community members (hosts), who invite a small group of peers to explore a particular issue using a prepared set of prompts or questions. This […]
Graphic Facilitation is a visual engagement technique where a trained facilitator captures key ideas, conversations, and themes in real-time using drawings, symbols, and words. This can occur on large sheets of paper, whiteboards, or digital tablets. It is used during meetings, workshops, or forums to enhance understanding, create shared meaning, and support memory retention. This […]
Community Organising is a long-term approach to civic participation that focuses on building the leadership, relationships, and collective power of everyday people to address issues that affect their lives. It typically involves identifying local leaders, building networks of trust, mapping shared concerns, and developing strategies for action. Unlike one-off consultations, community organising is deeply relational […]
The hui is a sophisticated New Zealand Māori tradition that involves bringing people together for a specific purpose or take (cause for gathering). (O’Sullivan and Mills, 2009)
Citizens working with organisations to contribute to scientific research with the aim to increase scientific knowledge.
Dotmocracy, also known as dot-voting or idea rating, is a method for group prioritisation to help progress ideas or action.
Voting on a series of options.
Storytelling helps people make sense of the world and engage with each other on a different level.
Similar to an opt-in e-panel except members are randomly-selected to avoid bias.
Online forum where invited or self-selected participants contribute to an online discussion about a topic or project for a set period of time.
Individualised letters sent to affected or interested community members and stakeholders.
Online software that engages the community in an interactive way.
Interactive computer application designed for smartphones, mobile devices and computer tablets.
Development of online or non-digital games which participants play to solve problems and accomplish tasks.
Deliberative democracy processes are methods where a representative sample of the population, usually chosen through random selection, meet and deliberate over a few days.
A forum where a representative sample of the community deliberates on a topic, issue or proposal. Forums last at least 2 days.
An exploratory, facilitated group method where participants are asked to close their eyes and visualise what their community looks like now and in the future. Uses visualisation and dialogue and may be extended to include creative arts activities.
A structured group of community or stakeholder representatives that meet regularly and operate under a Terms of Reference. Can vary from members providing their own feedback or ideas, to members acting as a conduit between the broader community and organisation.
An online series of posts about an engagement project or issues, which the community can share and comment on.
Advertisements paid for in print, broadcast or online mediums. Can be used to promote projects, engagement activities or to meet legal obligations.
Deliberation and decision making is undertaken by decision makers in view of the public, such as in a public gallery or by video streaming, to enhance transparency and accountability.
Community engagement or project teams go door-to-door to liaise with affected residents.
Open, hosted conversations set in cafes or other places where community members would ordinarily gather.
A website where content is not owned by a specific person or organisation, but is created, deleted or modified by members of the public.
A small group discussion hosted by a facilitator about a focussed topic.
Online interactive web-based seminar, presentation or workshop.
Can include dedicated websites for an engagement project, a central hub for all of an organisation’s engagement activities, or a specific page on an organisation’s corporate website.
A series of questions provided to a sample which may be a representative sample or a self-selected sample.
A structured process where randomly-selected participants explore and deliberate on a topic at a meeting over 2 to 3 days and then their opinions are polled. Results of the poll are shared with the group and publicly. Can include a pre-poll, as well as additional polling that occurs after the engagement activity.
Small groups of people (usually between 5 and 20) who meet multiple times to explore an issue.
One-on-one discussions to explore and understand community or stakeholder needs, perspectives, insights and feedback, and to build relationships.
A fair or festival involving food and entertainment, as well as activities around an engagement topic, project or proposal. Designed to make engagement topic more appealing and to reach audiences who would not normally attend workshops.
Widely publicised telephone or email hotline that and provides one-to-one responses to community questions or complaints.
A structured method to explore specific, complex issues, and where participants work in small groups.
Gathering ideas, services and content, from online users, rather than from staff or suppliers. Crowdsourcing can including asking for solutions to a problem, seeking funding for a project such as a start-up (crowdfunding) developing creative content or graphics, or to gather information. Can include a competition or incentive.
Large numbers of people who are selected to be representative of the population and be a part of a panel that deliberates on a range of issues over a set period of time. Surveys are distributed during the time to understand community attitudes, feedback, issues and behaviour. Can track changes as well.
Presentations and discussions with community or stakeholder groups. Can vary widely from informing to gathering feedback, ideas or options.
Staffed or unstaffed displays of information, options, drafts or final decisions which are made available in a public place.
Process where the community works with an organisation through its budgeting process.
Community members gather and share photos that represent their ideas or preferences for the future. Can be incorporated into face-to-face engagement events, or collected and shared online.
A program to educate the community about a topic, project or proposition. Education campaigns can be designed to raise awareness, generate understanding or support behaviour change.
A leaderless meeting where participants take a seat in a central circle to discuss a topic or question, that is controversial. Those watching follow a structured process to enter into the circle of discussion. Designed to voice multiple perspectives.
A representative sample of citizens are randomly selected to form a citizen’s jury which deliberates on a problem or opportunity. The jury hears evidence from witnesses, in front of a public gallery, before adjourning to deliberate and make a recommendation or decision.
Participants individually write their ideas, concerns, issues on cards. These are shared in small groups then categorised by the whole group.
A structured process for decision making that focuses on building on strengths (“what works well”), rather than focusing on problems and limitations.
A group activity to identify and then prioritise issues, concerns or ideas.
