Community engagement is a fundamental aspect of how we communicate and collaborate with our community. It involves understanding and addressing the needs and issues that our community experiences, ensuring that everyone who lives and/or works in the Scottish Borders is included.
Our Community Engagement Strategy was approved by Council in April 2024.
Our commitment
We are dedicated to working with the Borders community to foster an inclusive environment where every voice is heard. Our approach to community engagement is built on the principles of inclusivity, transparency, and mutual respect.
Why engage?
Effective community engagement offers numerous benefits for both the community and the Council:
- It empowers individuals to plan and influence the future of their community.
- Encourages active participation and involvement in local decision-making processes.
- Helps us identify areas that need improvement and develop solutions collaboratively.
Our approach
Our engagement strategy is designed to be a continuous process of active liaison with residents and stakeholders. This involves:
- embracing a community-led approach to the design and delivery of our services
- leveraging technology to enhance engagement opportunities while maintaining face-to-face methods for those who prefer them
- ensuring that our engagement methods are accessible to all, including marginalised and harder-to-reach groups.
Guidance on Community Engagement
To support our engagement activities, we have developed a draft Community Engagement Toolkit. This toolkit provides practical guidance, resources, and best practices to ensure our engagement efforts with communities are:
- aligned with the National Standards for Community Engagement to ensure fairness and effectiveness
- utilising resources efficiently to maximise impact
- maintaining open and honest communication with our community.
We will continue to develop our new toolkit through ongoing engagement with local communities, ensuring it reflects their preferences and needs for effective collaboration.
You can download a copy of our previous Community Engagement Toolkits as well as a library of guides that support us in delivering our engagement activities.
Key principles
Our engagement efforts are guided by the following principles:
- Inclusion: reaching all members of the community, including those traditionally marginalised
- Support: providing the necessary support to enable meaningful participation
- Planning: clear objectives, realistic timelines, and appropriate resources to ensure success
- Working together: fostering collaboration between the Council and the community
- Methods: using a variety of engagement methods tailored to the purpose and audience to ensure everyone can participate
- Communication: ensuring transparent, two-way communication
- Impact: measuring and evaluating the outcomes of engagement to ensure they reflect community input.
Engagement methods
We employ a variety of engagement methods tailored to the needs and preferences of our community, including:
- workshops and surveys: to gather input and feedback
- community conversations: locality-based discussions led by elected members and council officers
- digital platforms: utilising online tools to enhance accessibility and participation.
Evaluation and continuous improvement
We are committed to continuously evaluating our engagement processes to ensure they are effective and inclusive. Feedback from the community is essential in shaping our future engagement practices and ensuring that we meet the evolving needs of our residents.
If you’d like to provide feedback about our Community Engagement Strategy, toolkit, or methods, this can be done online.