Community Conversations are an innovative engagement method that extends participation beyond traditional consultation approaches and into everyday settings.
The process trains people from all walks of life to have meaningful conversations within their own networks, before coming back together. It can reach people who might not otherwise participate in formal engagement processes.
Description
A community conversation process brings together a group of up to 10 - 30 ‘conversation starters’ in a series of in-person sessions. Often the conversation starters are local people who have had less influence on decision-making or who are more likely to experience the impacts of issues being addressed. They are supported to hold conversations about the issue in their own lives with people they know.
The group of conversation starters participate in two blocks of meetings, with a period in between where they have conversations in their communities.
During the first meetings, participants receive training that lays the groundwork for having good conversations. The conversation starters are trained on how to have meaningful conversations about the chosen topic. Good practice includes breaking the ice, building relationships within the group, and developing individuals’ confidence. The training focuses on supporting people to speak to friends, family and neighbours. At the same meetings, they also have an introduction to the topic the conversations will be about. A range of speakers present on the topic, providing participants with information on relevant issues and the wider context so they know what to expect and to focus on.
The conversation starters then engage in their conversations, the key part of this method. They hold conversations with people they already know, reaching out into their communities. Everyone involved is made aware of what the conversations are for, and consent to participating. It isn’t a rigid interview, and the conversations take place in everyday places like at the school gates, over coffee or at the dinner table. Through these conversations, participants learn what others in their area think about the question.
Finally, the group of conversation starters meet again to share what they heard in their conversations. This brings together their different experiences, alongside the insights they gained from the conversations, training and meetings. The group then can develop shared outputs such as a vision for the future or recommendations for action. Through deliberation, these can reflect both what is important to the community from the conversations and any factual information from the first meetings.
Used for
- Understanding what is important to communities in an area
- Learning from people’s experiences, and understanding their perspectives
- Engaging people who may not participate in other consultation processes
- Building leadership, confidence and skills in the community to discuss an issue
Participants
Typically between 10 - 30 people are directly trained to have the conversations. Indirectly, this can reach between 30 - 150 people, depending on how many people each conversation starter talks to.
You can focus on groups who are particularly affected by the issue, or who are not typically engaged by other consultation processes. It can be used to engage from underrepresented communities, who may face barriers to attending formal meetings but can be involved in informal conversations.
Costs
Low to medium, usually between £30,000 - £100,000.
Costs depend on the number of people who will be trained to lead conversations, how long the process takes, and how much support is given to conversation starters during the conversation period. There are costs associated with hosting the training, including the venue and gifts of thanks for participants.
Much of the time cost is dedicated to planning the process, including how it will be followed up on after the conversations have ended. This includes deciding the focus of the conversations, the sessions content, event logistics and responding to or implementing any recommendations.
Approximate time expense
About 3 - 6 months total. When delivering community conversations, you need to allocate time and resources for both organising the process and responding to any outputs.
The conversations themselves take 1 - 2 months. You should allow at least 3 weeks for the trained participants to have the conversations with multiple people. You will also need to allow time for recruitment of the conversation starters. Ideally there would be 2 - 3 weeks for people to volunteer to be conversation starters, with a publicity campaign and promotion through relevant organisations in the community.
Understanding of the process and support from people who can act on the recommendations is vital to the impact of the conversations. It requires time investment before and after the meetings take place to build these relationships.
Strengths
- Reaches out to a wider group than the number of people who are attending, with each conversation starter connecting with additional people
- Creates dialogue about an issues in more everyday, comfortable settings, and can engage people who would not be able to attend formal events
- Builds the skills and capacity of the conversation starters
- Creates valuable insights into people’s experiences, what matters to them and what they would like in the future.
- Can bring out diverse perspectives from across the conversations. The conversation starters learn from different experiences, and can develop ideas and suggestions informed by a variety of viewpoints
Weaknesses
- Will not reach everyone in the community and may miss some demographics or perspectives, as it depends on the relationships and social networks people already have
- Has a significant costs for organisers in terms of coordination and support
- Relies on the conversation starters time and commitment over a long period of time.
- May not be suitable for topics that are very sensitive or divisive, as this creates pressure and potential risk of harm to conversation starters. This can be mitigated by additional support and further training.
Find out more
You can see examples of community conversation projects by following the links below: