Use the Engagement Methods Tool to find the right tool for your community and stakeholder engagement project.
The Full Circle method is a highly participatory engagement approach designed to generate ideas, explore perspectives, and deepen collective understanding. It works by dividing participants into small groups who rotate through a series of “stations,” each featuring a different topic or question. At each station, the group reviews what earlier groups have written or created […]
Town Hall Meetings are public forums where community members gather to hear from decision-makers, ask questions, and provide feedback on policies, projects, or local issues. Traditionally held in large halls or community spaces, they have evolved to include hybrid and virtual formats. They often feature brief presentations followed by open Q&A sessions or breakout conversations. […]
A Socratic Circle (or Socratic Seminar) is a dialogue-based method that encourages participants to engage deeply with a topic by discussing a shared question, text, or idea. Rooted in the Socratic tradition of inquiry and reflection, this method focuses on thoughtful dialogue, active listening, and respectful challenge rather than debate or persuasion. Often used in […]
Social networking site based on users’ professional expertise.
A Referendum is a formal, structured process that enables eligible voters to make a binding decision on a specific issue — typically by casting a “yes” or “no” vote. Most commonly used in constitutional or high-level policy matters, referenda are administered by electoral commissions and involve strict legal and procedural frameworks. In a local government […]
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 […]
Participatory Arts is an expressive engagement method that invites people to explore and share ideas, experiences, or community issues through creative mediums such as visual art, music, performance, storytelling, or multimedia. Led by artists or cultural facilitators, participants co-create artworks that reflect their identities, hopes, or concerns, often culminating in a public exhibition or performance. […]
A Hackathon is a short, high-energy event where diverse participants — such as designers, community members, developers, policy thinkers or creatives — come together to rapidly develop solutions to a specific challenge. Traditionally associated with technology or innovation, hackathons are increasingly used in community engagement to prototype new ideas for civic issues, policy design, or […]
Crowd Funding is a participatory fundraising method that engages individuals to contribute small amounts of money — usually online — to collectively fund a specific initiative or cause. Often hosted on dedicated platforms like Chuffed, GoFundMe, or StartSomeGood, crowd funding campaigns use storytelling, images, and clear goals to inspire people to donate and share the […]
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 […]
Collective Action refers to coordinated efforts by a group of people working together to address a shared issue or pursue a common goal. It is often grassroots in nature and may involve community-led campaigns, rallies, clean-up days, public art projects, or advocacy initiatives. The power of collective action lies in its ability to mobilise people […]
Collaborative governance is a participatory approach to decision-making and problem-solving that brings together stakeholders from various sectors—government, private, non-profit, and community groups—to address complex societal challenges or achieve shared goals. This model emphasises inclusivity, transparency, and consensus-building to foster sustainable solutions and improve public outcomes. Key Features of Collaborative Governance Multi-Sector Engagement: It involves collaboration […]
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)
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.
Similar to an opt-in e-panel except members are randomly-selected to avoid bias.
Community members opt in to be part of an online engagement panel.
Online software that engages the community in an interactive way.
Interactive computer application designed for smartphones, mobile devices and computer tablets.
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.
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.
Research involving a community of practice trying to solve a problem through action. Communities act as “co-researchers”.
Community engagement or project teams go door-to-door to liaise with affected residents.
A structured process to host a conversation with community or stakeholder representatives. Includes a series of questions that are objective, then reflective, interpretive and decisional.
A small group discussion hosted by a facilitator about a focussed topic.
A structured process where participants discuss a question or series of questions at a group of small tables.
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.
Community and stakeholders are invited to tour a site to gain a deeper understanding or to gain first-hand experience.
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.
A method for hosting a meeting, conference or summit which is focused on a particular purpose or topic, but which has no formal agenda set.
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.
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.
Media releases, pitches or briefings provided to journalists to publish free editorial on engagement projects or issues.
Citizens edit and shape documents and reports through a series of circulating documents.
A future planning process where participants undertake a series of sessions on the past, present, future, common ground, and action planning. Designed to develop a shared vision for the future.
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 highly-structured method involving a representative jury or panel of non-expert citizens who deliberate during a chaired public hearing held over 2-4 days where they hear evidence from a range of different experts. Jury members decide who to call in as expert witnesses. Participants make recommendations or decisions.
A group activity to identify and then prioritise issues, concerns or ideas.
Consumers and users work works with designers to codesign products, services or processes
