Community Consultation: Why the Soapworks is so engaging
Meaningful community engagement has been a challenge developers and local authorities have faced for decades. But could new digital technology be the breakthrough we need to reach more people and those previously regarded as ‘disengaged’ or ‘hard to reach’?
Consultation is a pre-requisite for large-scale developments, and desirable wherever communities will be affected by changes in their built and policy environments. But reaching the right people and getting the right kind of feedback has always proved challenging. Public meetings tend to attract loud, oppositional voices. Drop-in centres attract only those who are passing by and flyers and questionnaires never seem to ask the right questions. And none of them manages to engage the silent majority.
In our guide to social value in new development, UKGBC advocates that the likelihood of delivering positive outcomes for communities from local development increases the more genuinely and effectively that the community are engaged in the development process.
Learn how developer First Base faced these challenges and achieved record-breaking levels of engagement using both traditional methods and new technologies to reach the community around the historic Soapworks site in Bristol and find out how the information they received helped shape the new development.
Speakers
- Liam Ronan-Chlond, Stakeholder & External Relations, First Base
- Emily Laverick, Marketing Director, Built-ID
- Nadine Jenkins, Sustainability Advisor, UKGBC
Who should attend
This course is intended for professionals looking to explore how different strategies and tools can engage stakeholders, improve their response rates, and deliver better development outcomes.
Why attend
This engaging session will allow you to gain insight into the key learnings from the Soapworks case study and explore how they might relate to your own work. The presentation will be followed by a wider discussion and debate with an opportunity to engage with experts.
There are free Gold Leaf places available for this event. Please contact learning@ukbgc.org to register.
Related
Local Authority Retrofit Accelerator: ‘Getting Started’ Toolkit Launch
Embodied Carbon and Scope 3 Reporting Guidance Launch
A Deep Dive into UKGBC’s Retrofitting Office Buildings Report
General election campaign: policy platform launch event
