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COMMUNITY CONSULTATION, FACILITATION & ENGAGEMENT


Photo: J. Lambert

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Community Consultation, Facilitation & Engagement

There are many different ways of undertaking community consultation and to actively engage participants. We will develop a strategy for identifying and consulting with your target group. We often use focus groups and surveys in collecting views from both small and large groups within the population, but at times other approaches will be more suitable. We will tailor a consultation process that meets your needs and your budget.

Much of the work undertaken by Community Solutions depends to a significant extent on successful community consultation and engagement, and on sound facilitation.

Judy is an experienced facilitator and is often called upon to assist with the conduct of meetings from national conferences to local workshops. Please contact Judy to discuss your facilitation needs.

Depending upon the type of project and the sector involved, Judy often facilitates in collaboration with colleagues, including Nina Harding (see www.ninaharding.com), Professor Valerie Brown and former Community Solutions Co-Director Jane Elix. Jane has a Master of Dispute Resolution, and attained a PhD in Public Policy Dispute Resolution in 2006. Jane is a member of the International Association of Facilitators (see www.iaf-world.org and also www.janeelix.com

Relevant Projects include:

During 2010, Judy completed several small facilitation projects for both government and NGO clients.  Included among these were:

Parramatta River Catchment Group
Judy completed some preparatory work with key participants then facilitated a planning workshop to assist the Catchment Group’s Stormwater Management program in renewing its strategic direction and work plan.

Environmental Defenders’ Office NSW
Judy worked with staff in the EDO NSW to plan a 1-day workshop addressing improved protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage in New South Wales. The workshop, which Judy facilitated, involved senior representatives of Aboriginal communities across the state and sought to more clearly define the legislative and policy changes needed to achieve better heritage protection.

Sydney Coastal Councils Group
Working with the staff of this small but dynamic organisation, Judy facilitated the development of a new Strategic Plan for the group, which includes the 15 member Councils that together manage the Sydney coastal region from Hornsby and Pittwater to Sutherland.

NSW Natural Resources Advisory Council
Working with Jane Elix Consulting to plan for, facilitate and report on a forum (June 2008) hosted by the NSW Natural Resources Advisory Council (NRAC) for projects which have received funding under the ‘Forging Partnerships’ program. Involving participants in a diversity of projects, the forum identified factors contributing to effective partnerships in practice, provided an opportunity for NRAC to further evaluate the achievement of the objectives of the Forging Partnership Program and explore future directions for the Program.

This project was a typical example of Community Solutions interests in natural resource management and bridging the gap between producers, scientists, governments and the community.

Urban Sustainability Support Alliance
Working with Professor Valerie Brown, Judy assisted the USSA steering committee in reaching its full potential in Integration and Shared Learning among multi-stakeholder sustainability projects– facilitation and capacity building are a key focus of this ongoing work.

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Low income housing and affordability – stakeholder workshop facilitation (Aug 2008), with Nina Harding.

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
Biodiversity Hotspots Stewardship, delivery agents workshop design and facilitation (July 2008), with Mike Williams.

Canterbury Council
In 2007 Canterbury Council commissioned a team led by SGS Economics & Planning, and involving Community Solutions and Architectus, to prepare an Economic Development and Employment Strategy for the area. Community Solutions were given the role of running the community engagement component of the project. Information was gathered through a series of workshops throughout the Canterbury local government area. Consultation targeted land owners and tenants who provide employment in the area, including industries, shop-keepers, home-based businesses, Chambers of Commerce, members of Council’s Economic Development Committee and others with an interest.

Land and Water Australia: Restoring Landscapes with Confidence
 A Land and Water Australia project led by Dr Siwan Lovett of Lovett Clark Consulting and working with Dr Jann Williams and Dr Phil Price (December 2007 – May 2008) This project included design and facilitation of workshops with stakeholders in a range of regional landscape restoration projects.

Nature Conservation Council of NSW: Hotspots Fire Management Project
This ongoing project works with landholders, members of the community, scientists, volunteer Bushfire Brigades, the Rural Fire Service, Catchment Management Authorities and public land managers, assisting them in managing fire both for the protection of life and property and to ensure healthy, productive landscapes in which biodiversity is protected and maintained. Judy provides advice and services on community engagement, She also plans and facilitates workshops with a diversity of participants in fire management.

Land and Water Australia
From February 2006 to October 2008 Judy Lambert has served as Research & Development Coordinator to the national Defeating the Weed Menace program funded jointly by the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment and Heritage. In her role as National Weeds R&D Coordinator, Judy facilitates a range of workshops with research scientists, policy-makers, on-ground managers and others with an interest in weeds control and management.

Other Projects include:

Baulkham Hills Shire Council
2007, Jane conducted Facilitation of 'Community Planning and Community Outcomes' meetings.

Department of the Environment and Heritage
During 2006 Community Solutions worked with the Department of the Environment and Heritage to design and conduct a workshop directed to developing a nationally agreed framework for describing wetlands of national and international significance. The workshop, involving national and state agency representatives, wetland scientists and community interests, set the framework for a national approach meeting Australia's obligations under the international Ramsar convention.

WA Department of Consumer & Employment Protection
Click here for more info

Marrickville Council
Working in collaboration with SGS Economics & Planning Pty Ltd and Architectus, Community Solutions was responsible for community engagement and facilitation of community input to the development of an Urban Strategy for the Marrickville Local Government area. Adopting a Values Mapping approach, Community Solutions assisted the project to identify and prioritise aspects of life in Marrickville then to obtain community feedback on the planning approaches proposed to address those issues.

WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF)
In 2003 Community Solutions worked with WWF Australia to bring together the diversity of interests needed to sustainably manage the Robbins Passage/Boullanger Bay area in the far north-west of Tasmania. That project led, in 2006, to a community-based management planning process for the area led by the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, in which Community Solutions was responsible for the community engagement and facilitation aspects of the work. A similar project resulted in 2006, in a set of interim management guidelines for the Ramsar-listed wetlands of international significance at Roebuck Bay near Broome in north-western Australia.

At various times throughout 2000 and 2001, the partners in Community Solutions worked with WWF to plan and facilitate organisational planning and review sessions. Community Solutions partners also worked with WWF to plan, facilitate and report on a major national workshop focused on setting a vision for the Murray Darling Basin. Among the key elements of this workshop session were the active involvement of a diversity of relevant stakeholders, and the use of a workshop program having sufficient flexibility to identify and build on the expressed needs of the various participants

Total Environment Centre (TEC)
Throughout 2001 Community Solutions completed a series of modules focusing on sustainability on the corporate sector. The TEC project included development of a transparent assessment process for determining the extent to which corporate sector organisations are sustainability-seeking, facilitation of the development of a Statement of Common Purpose among national and state environment groups, and a preliminary investigation of opportunities to bring community-based environmental and social services groups together to work with government agencies and the corporate sector to progress a valid and transparent approach to sustainable development - taking account of the environmental and social aspects of corporate activity, as well as their economic performance.

Office of Women's Affairs (Vic.) - Family Violence Project
In 1999, Community Solutions worked with Phoenix Projects to identify and describe the pathways taken by family members experiencing family violence, and the range of groups outside the home with whom they come into contact. The project was undertaken for the Victorian Office of Women's Affairs, and was part of the Commonwealth Partnerships Against Domestic Violence program. The project involved consultation with service providers and victims/survivors of family violence in both urban and rural Victoria, and an extensive search of and reporting on published and unpublished literature.

NSW Health Consumers Project
Funded by NSW Health and conducted for the NSW Council of Social Services, this project provided health consumers in NSW with an opportunity to make input to a strategy for consumer participation in health policy and planning. The partners in Community Solutions worked with NCOSS consultant Beverly Duffy to plan and conduct public forums in regional and metropolitan NSW during 1997 and provided a report on the consultative process. The final report "Have your say about health" was published in 1998.

Baulkham Hills Project
Community Solutions (in conjunction with Louise Crossley and Jackie Ohlin) worked with the Baulkham Hills Shire Council and the University of Western Sydney 'ecoprofessoriate' to explore opportunities for collaborative projects on integrated social, environmental and economic development in the area. The process involved research on the needs in the area, reporting on the economic activities being undertaken, and extensive community consultation with a variety of interest groups. Liaising with the Council and UWS was a key part of this project.

Additional Projects include:

Incentives for conservation of biodiversity'Missed Opportunities' Women in Australian Agriculture project
Consumers' review of Telstra's consumer consultative process
NSW Women's Centre feasibility study
FNQ 2010 community conservation plan

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