Lesson objectives:

1. Discuss the nature of Community Engagement.

2. Identify and discuss each of the different forms of community engagement.

What is community engagement?

What is its relevance to the community and to community action?

Community engagement, according to Taguibao(2016 p25), pertains to the “process of working

collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special
interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people.”

Community engagement could be achieved with the elements of trust, cooperation, functional
networks or links and dependable partnerships.

Community engagement is a way of ensuring that community members have access to valued social
settings and activities, feel that they are able to contribute meaningfully to those activities, and
develop functional capabilities that enable them to participate fully.

Another thing to remember about community engagement would be its core principles. There are
several core principles of community engagement according to www.aese.psu.edu and they are as
follows:

1. Careful planning and Preparation. People should not just plunge into anything without knowledge
about the activity or without any tool to engage in it. An endeavor should not be instinctive,
otherwise, you cannot be sure of what lies ahead. You have to lay down a plan and accompanying
procedure as well for a clear roadmap of the participants. Community engagement is not a spur-of-
the-moment rather the product of a careful assessment of community situations or scenarios.

2. Inclusion and demographic diversity. Regardless of the location, color, beliefs, socio-economic
status, ethnicity, gender (and any other indicator), of the community members, their voices,
sentiments, ideas and thoughts must be considered. Community engagement is not a selective
endeavor. Streamlined or marginalized members of the community must not be left out.

3. Collaboration and shared purpose. Since community engagement involves practically all the
members of the group, then collaboration and cooperation are preconditioned principles.
Institutions- government and nongovernment, based therein must work together with the
community folks for better results.

4. Openness and learning. Allow the pooling of thoughts and sentiments to have a better
assessment of the scenarios in the community, in preparation for a community engagement plan.
The more suggestion, the more ideas to choose from.

5. Transparency and Trust. The plan and the process to be undergone with must be an open book to
the members of the community to avoid the stemming of doubts. If the community engagement
entails logistics, there has to be a clear record of such. Should it involve partner agencies, their
names and affiliations must be spelled out as well. No deceptions on the whereabouts of the plan as
well as the activity.
6. Impact and Action. There has to be an assurance of a positive development as an outcome of a
concerted endeavor. The activity involved in the community engagement should be suggestive of
potential change rather than become a liability to the community.

7. Sustained engagement and participatory culture. The planned activity must be geared towards
honing the participative nature and sense of volunteerism in the members of the community. And,
there has to be a scheme whereby ongoing and would-be activities for community engagement is
supported and sustained.

The last relevant and necessary detail which we must learn about community engagement pertains
to its pillars. Pillars here would refer to the so-called building blocks or the indicators to support a
productive and of community engagement. We could enumerate them as:

1. Build Capacity, where the people in the community are capacitated according to their own
growth and development pace. This would result to a change-potential engagement.

2. Reduce Barriers. Because of the principles of inclusion, collaboration and openness, whatever thin
line dividing the community members is eradicated, an indication of a productive prospective
community engagement.

3. Communication. The community members learn the basics of listening and speaking as well.
People learn not only to talk immensely but to become good listeners, too. Such skills are but
necessary for better understanding amongst the members of the community. When all the people
know is talk without listening to the others, then they will not come into terms with each other.
When a communication vacuum occurs, engagement will not be possible at all.

4. Action-oriented dialogue. The last pillar refers to the motivating indicators to enjoin the members
participate actively in community engagement. Such comes in the form of rewards system to benefit
the entirety of the community.