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Community Engagement icon-1

community engagement

Authentic community engagement ensures that the people who are closest to an issue, place, or opportunity, are involved in creating bold visions for their future. This includes learning together, building capacity, building relationships, and making decisions. Community engagement increases community cohesion and allows community members to have ownership over the outcomes that will ultimately impact them. 

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Online Course

foundations of community engagement

This online course will help you build a foundation of knowledge and practice for your community engagement work. Learn at your own pace with the practical tools and resources, and gain the confidence you need to authentically engage your community. 

Register for the Online Course
Virtual Engagement

Article

Virtual Community Engagement in Indigenous and Remote Communities

Amanda Sheedy reflects on the importance of her past experiences engaging with Indigenous and remote communities across Turtle Island in informing the Virtual Community Engagement Guide.

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Tamarack is uniquely positioned to act as a bridge between theory and practice, teaching and coaching organizations, municipalities and groups to engage their communities meaningfully. We are leaders in applying community engagement to systems-thinking in order to work collaboratively for community-wide change.

 

getting started

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Community Engagement Planning Canvas

Table 5

Understanding Community-Led Approaches to Community Change

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Creating the Culture for Engagement

Index of CE Techniques

Index of Community Engagement Techniques

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The Context Experts

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Making the Case for Arts-Based Engagement

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meet the director

Lisa is a Consulting Director of Tamarack Institute’s Community Engagement skill area. She believes in the power of people coming together to shape their future and loves engaging in ways that shake things up. She cares deeply about shifting power, extending trust, and bringing creativity to community change work. As a practitioner, Lisa draws on her experience as an artist, parent, coach, and co-owner of a community cafe. 

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Current Themes Being Explored:  

  • Arts-Based Engagement
    • What are the benefits of arts-based-engagement?
    • What are the methodologies for arts-based engagement and how do you do it?
    • How do you evaluate these more creative and participatory engagement methods?
  • Communicating Impact
    • Crisis communications
    • Communicating results and sharing impact
    • Trust-based philanthropy and reporting on impact
    • How to make a ‘living document’

A group of people smiling and holding up chocolate moustaches. This is the team at Carman Wellness Connections.
CASE STUDY | Carman Wellness Connections
Why Community Engagement Is Essential to Climate Adaptation and Resilience
ARTICLE | Why Community Engagement Is Essential to Climate Adaptation and Resilience
 Interconnected Practices for Community and Systems Impact
ARTICLE | Interconnected Practices for Community and Systems Impact
Neighbours Taking a Strengths-Based Approach to Increase Emotional Well-Being in Their Community
Neighbours Taking a Strengths-Based Approach to Increase Emotional Well-Being in Their Community
ARTICLE | “I felt the power, I felt the fire”: Empowering Newcomers to the Peel Region Through Participatory Grantmaking
ARTICLE | Making the Case for Arts-Based Engagement
ARTICLE | Making the Case for Arts-Based Engagement
Making the Most of the Times - Virtual Community Engagement in Indigenous and Remote Communities
ARTICLE | Virtual Community Engagement in Indigenous and Remote Communities
How do you prioritize potential solutions?
Blog post: Resources for Truth and Reconciliation
Resources for Truth and Reconciliation
It's Time to Do Stakeholder Mapping Differently
How to Recruit Diverse Community Groups
A Gut Check on Youth Voice
PAPER | Understanding Community-Led Approaches to Community Change
ARTICLE | On Not Letting (Another) Crisis Go to Waste
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Building Social Capital Through Bartering, Learning and Relationships
PAPER | Creating the Culture for Engagement
Finding the Right Community Engagement Mindset
The Opposite of Boring: Eight Things to Care About when Hosting A Community Consultation
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Authentic Engagement is a Personal Journey
Community Engagement - A Foundational Practice of Community Change
PAPER | Community Engagement - A Foundational Practice of Community Change
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Trust: An Essential Ingredient in Authentic Community Engagement
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Community engagement is a foundational practice of community change  

Tamarack’s experience has shown that one of the most effective ways to challenge our own biases and generate the new thinking necessary to solve community challenges is to emphasize diversity and welcome the perspectives and insights that are brought by those whose experiences are different from our own.  

Community engagement is rooted in the belief that the best solutions to complex community issues are most often discovered when a dedicated group of community leaders, from multiple perspectives, work together to better align their efforts and partner together on new community innovations.  

But engaging diverse perspectives to work well together is not always easy. It requires people to be willing and able to suspend their belief that they have “the answer” and instead become curious about the experiences of others to broaden their understanding. To do this, all must let go of blame and judgment and slow down our thinking to create a common language and a richer appreciation of their shared issue. 

get in touch

We’re happy to answer questions, discuss community issues and direct you to trusted resources. Get in touch with a specific team member or submit a general inquiry.

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