Community Engagement and Regeneration in London: Concepts, Methods and Practice

Dr. Alex Prior reflects on the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network workshop on 9 December 2020

On 9 December 2020, the Social Integration and Regeneration Learning Network (SIRLN) ran a Community Engagement and Regeneration workshop to discuss community engagement models, principles and their application in regeneration projects.

Participants were from London Boroughs, the Greater London Authority, community organisations, housing associations and research bodies. The majority of participants described community engagement as part of their role (among other tasks), with a substantial number describing it as their primary focus.

Our first presenter was Mel Stevens, Director of Programmes at the Democratic Society, who provided an outline of how community engagement can be most effectively conceptualised (referring to such models as Arnstein’s Ladder of Participation and the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation).

Mel emphasised the importance of collaborative modes of community engagement (i.e. ‘co-design’, ‘co-production’, ‘co-creation’), as well as understanding the relevant audience and their needs. In elaborating this, Mel highlighted three useful examples of effective community engagement:

1. Calderdale Conversations: Calderdale Council wanted to change its relationship with residents. This was built through an open-ended conversation (without the Council setting the agenda) using a range of polling tools
2. Romsey Citizens Assembly: Improving the local area through a deliberation of 50 randomly-selected citizens, whose priorities were incorporated into the regeneration plan
3. Waltham Forest Citizens Assembly: The world’s first citizens assembly on hate crime, in which a representative 45-member panel heard directly from victims of hate crime, experts and academics, and proposed recommendations to the council.

Using the Slido infographic platform, we ran some quick polls to determine participants’ attitudes on key questions, and thus guide subsequent discussion. When asked what words they would use to describe community engagement in 2020, the participants provided a diverse group of responses, clustered as follows:

This set of responses (with more commonly used terms in larger text) reflects themes that we have highlighted in previous events and blog posts. Specifically, participants observed new challenges and new opportunities for community engagement in the context of Covid-19, especially in relation to digital working practices. When asked about the biggest barriers to community engagement, participants highlighted long-standing concerns relating to the ‘usual suspects’ and the difficulty of reaching vulnerable communities.

The discussion then turned to engagement in large scale regeneration projects, with presentations from the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC). Grace Williams (Great Place Scheme Programme Manager) introduced the OPDC, established by the Mayor of London in 2015, which serves as the local planning authority and regeneration agency for a 650-hectare site incorporating sections of three boroughs (Brent, Ealing, and Hammersmith & Fulham) in West London.

Discussing the enormous diversity within this area (which includes large residential and business communities), Grace described the Great Place Scheme, a three-year programme to celebrate the culture and heritage of the area (extended into 2021 in consideration of challenges raised by Covid-19). Community engagement is at the centre of this programme; the Artist in Industry Residency focused on local employees and the relationship between the built environment, heritage, and local communities.

Rosalie Schweiker — who is known for using art as a mode of engagement — was appointed to work in the local McVities factory for several months, delivering workshops for all 600 staff as part of their mandatory training. These workshops included printmaking and poetry writing, using the heritage of the factory as a basis for discussion around memories, hopes for the local area, and heritage. It provided an opportunity for OPDC to understand the factory employees while creating a new, rich dialogue among staff members; one that they were very keen to repeat. This provided a valuable case study, showing the usefulness of working with engagement experts in facilitating an in-depth reflective discussion.

Jan Ackenhausen (Principal Urban Designer) then discussed the OPDC’s Community Review Group, which was set up to help assess planning applications for new developments. The Group is made up of local people who provide input on these applications, informing recommendations of how specific aspects can be addressed. Reflecting the diversity of the Old Oak and Park Royal area, the OPDC ensured that the composition of the Group was as close as possible to the statistical baseline of the region (in terms of age group, ethnic background, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. The Community Review Group, which is funded by the development applicants, mirrors the principle of Design Review Groups (which are widely used and typically composed of architects and other specialists), but with the addition of local knowledge and ‘locally-rooted interest’. This, as Jan attested, adds substantial value to the work of OPDC.

These presentations yielded an incredibly vibrant discussion, with participants sharing web links and fielded additional questions. Several of these questions concerned the OPDC’s Community Review Group (with Grace then describing the training, facilitation and capacity building provided to the Group, in order to ensure their comfort in understanding within their work). Representatives of several local authorities voiced their enthusiasm for including similar groups in their regeneration programmes.

The SIRLN’s Sally Kneeshaw also ran a panel discussion with engagement and regeneration staff from Camden, Royal Docks and Tower Hamlets. Consistent with the Slido poll mentioned earlier, Covid-19 was discussed as a time of challenge but also possibilities, with a fundamental reimagining of engagement with citizens and a more open-ended, informal and bottom-up approach to relationship building.

As attested by Tower Hamlets, engagement teams were able to make use of a strong tradition of community ownership to generate citizen participation in regeneration projects. Moreover, through working with housing associations, engagement was extended beyond the ‘usual suspects’ to encompass traditionally under-represented groups. Another significant lesson is the use of innovation in engagement practice — these may take the form of Councils using Citizen Assemblies or deliberative publics strategically to address long term issues, or the form of enabling work to support informal mutual aid groups that played an important part in supporting local communities through the pandemic. One key focus for local authorities is maintaining this momentum beyond Covid-19.

Our next workshop (on 6 January) will focus on Designing the Built Environment for Recovery. We will continue to provide updates on events, and blog posts summarising key findings. In the meantime we want to hear your inputs and experiences; please sign up for the network here, and tell us about your ongoing projects on our Teams page.