Connecting Theory to Practice: Co-creating Authentic Community Engagement

Outline

10 mins.: Opening Connection
Participants will engage in a peer-to-peer community conversation around belonging with other participants to calibrate around what an authentic and engaging community might look like.

5 mins.: Introduction of panelists and backgrounds
Panelists will introduce NEP’s Liberatory Design Mindsets and encourage participants to Embrace Complexity as we engage in discussions around community - this topic is complex and multi-faceted and we won’t have time to go deeply into all of these complexities - scratching the surface.

15 mins.: Panelists will explain the research and theory and the liberatory design process that led to the development of the Community Framework.

15 mins: Panelists will share techniques and strategies that they are using in practice to authentically engage stakeholders

Panelists will share strategies within each of the frameworks key categories of:
-Culturally Affirming and Sustaining
-Connected and Engaged
-Nurturing and Restorative
-Equitable and Inclusive

15 mins.: Participants will be given an opportunity to explore the framework in peer-to-peer conversations to discuss possible applications for their local context.

The moderator will facilitate a Question and Answer period.

Supporting research

Community Engagement Framework: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mqb8tbxiw9o9pvd99plcf/Community-Engagement-Framework.pdf?rlkey=ftg8tbhv1wo9d0m5gvcc097jk&e=2&st=rls60sgc&dl=0

National Equity Project: Liberatory Design: https://www.nationalequityproject.org/framework/leading-for-equity-framework

NTAC 2024 Conference Session Presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_h16sRlLfmvNyYZR3zMccGbbdvR_ZryPoLwehAXfto8/edit#slide=id.g2e732a6fff9_0_795

Block, P. (2008). Community: The Structure of Belonging. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Wise, S. (2020). Design for Belonging: How to Build Inclusion and Collaboration in Your Communities. Stanford d.school Press.

Wheatley, M. (2013). Leadership in the Age of Complexity: From Hero to Host. Resurgence & Ecologist.