Q&A: What does community engagement really mean?

At its best community engagement means two things – learning and value. The one leads to the other, which is why it makes it important to do it properly, writes Simon Hesketh, regeneration director at U+I. What is the point of engaging with a community ahead of a development? To learn from them what is going to work best for the place you are developing. They know the place better than you do. They’ll know the history, what has worked and what has failed. They’ll know what is needed and they’ll know what is and what is not authentic. But to work best, this desire to learn needs to be driven by a genuine curiosity, rather than a desire to tick a box in the consultative process. The local community needs to be treated seriously, drawn into the process and involve a wide range of people from the community. All ages and backgrounds should be engaged and that means finding ways to attract their attention and getting them interested. And that is why we believe in what we call worthwhile use. More than meanwhile use, it is the creative, intelligent use of space to act as a magnet for the local community, allowing them to feel a genuine and engaged part of the process, while at the same time feeding our curiosity, starting to answer our questions and shaping our idea for the final scheme. Worthwhile site A good example is our current worthwhile site at 8 Albert Embankment, the former London Fire Brigade headquarters on the south bank of the River Thames, facing the House of Commons. Despite such an illustrious location, it is an area with a community from a diverse range of social backgrounds. We need to understand the strands of this diversity. The old garage has a huge open space with offices around it which we have called The Workshop and which we have filled with a range of activities to attract the community. These include the Migration Museum – the only one of its kind and popular in an area rich in a migrant population – and educational projects, such as homework clubs, social enterprises, start-ups and artists’ studios. The space is also home to the London Fire Brigade Museum which we moved from its old home in Southwark to celebrate the site’s history and as a first step to creating its long-term home – a new museum devoted to the history of London’s fire brigade. This worthwhile use of the site means it has already become a vibrant part of the community, bringing in more than 40,000 people to the building and significantly widening – and deepening – our engagement with the area and its people. In turn, their feedback and ideas will inform what the final scheme looks like. We know this is worthwhile use because we know it will add value – the other clear function of proper community engagement. But how is that value delivered? Good community engagement establishes a sense of trust, with local people and – more importantly for a business that so often works in partnership with the public sector – with local government and other key stakeholders. The trust and knowledge we have gleaned that goes with it takes some of the risk out of the project: it means we are more likely to get it right and people will trust us to get it right. But to work best, this desire to learn needs to be driven by a genuine curiosity, rather than a desire to tick a box in the consultative process That, in turn, helps smooth the planning process. If we are trusted by the local authority to understand the community, it is likely to look more favourably on what we are proposing. We can learn together – and this helps change perceptions. We are less likely to be seen as the outsider, diving in to make a quick buck more likely as committed placemakers looking to bring real value to the area. All this means we are likely to create better places together that work for local communities and in which people want to live and work. Places that mean we are trusted to do it again next time. And that’s what community engagement is really about.