Developing a Participation Strategy

Identify participants (Who?)

Lots of hands of various skin tones being held up in the air.

Deciding who to involve is a key part of planning.

Understanding the different roles that participants can have in a participation activity will help to identify who should be involved. These could be stakeholders, individuals, citizens or community representatives, for example.

Some useful questions are: 

  • Whose voice is needed to be heard to deliver what is needed?
  • Why should people participate?
  • What impact will the participants’ involvement have? How can this be made clear when seeking participants?
  • Will different participants be involved in different ways and at different stages of the process?
  • Will the engagement activity be open to anyone wishing to participate, or does it need to be targeted in terms of reaching participants?
  • Are there barriers to anyone being able to participate? For example, consider:
  • Do participants need to have experience, awareness, knowledge or interest in an issue or topic?
  • The timing and format of the activity.
  • The technology and / or digital skills required to participate.
  • Are there any language requirements?
  • Do participants need to agree with a specific desired outcome, or is hearing from opposing points of view important to the defined purpose of the engagement activity?


 

Download a PDF of this guide

Detailed guide to planning a participation exercise (294kB)