Part 2: Types of community engagement

People crafting together round a table One key consideration when you’re designing your engagement activities is how you want to involve communities and to what extent. The IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation provides a framework that may help you to consider the most appropriate level of engagement for your project. The National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE) has also defined several different purposes for public engagement which can help you consider what purpose public engagement has for you. The table below integrates the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation with the NCCPE purposes of public engagement:

This table integrates the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation with the NCCPE purposes of public engagement
IAP2 Spectrum	Inform	Consult	Involve	Collaborate	Empower
NCCPE purposes	Share what we do Inspire people Give people information to help change behaviours	Learn from others Dialogue about lived experience	Respond to need Respond to requests for research Ask the public what is important to them	Create knowledge together Do research together Apply research together to make a difference	Enable the community to conduct their own research – with or without researcher support
Case studies	Heart and Lung Shops	Radiotherapy and Me	Something In the Air Lothian Lugs	Little Voices Shouting Out Community Matters	Connected Communities

When designing your public engagement activities you should:

Consider which activities will work best: NCCPE has a useful typology of activitiesLink opens in a new window.
Consult with and involve community partners in designing your activities.
Consult with and involve the public (where possible) on how they would like to engage.
Consider what skills and resources you will need to successfully deliver your chosen approach – this may include specialist facilitators, creatives and/or other professionals.

A note on setting up partners and specialists as suppliers in public engagement projects:

University finance systems can be slow moving and complex. It can take a long time to get partners or specialist facilitators set up as suppliers and/or to get permission to pay them as self-employed individuals.
Build in plenty of time for this (2-3 months) to avoid any problems.
If you need support, talk to either a finance contact in your department or get in touch with the WIE Team who can advise on the best process to follow.
You may also have to get Financial Regulations approval depending on what you’re hoping to do – you can find your Fin Regs champion on the Finance pages.

Find out more

NCCPE has a large case study databaseLink opens in a new window to give you ideas.
The Practical Engagement Skills toolkitLink opens in a new window provides information about how to design approaches to public engagement.

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