Community Engagement: Exploring a Relational Approach to Consultation and Collaborative Practice in Australia

Abstract

Community engagement is increasingly being employed by Australian organizations as a key strategy to incorporate representative community opinions into decision-making. This trend is reflected by Australian local and state governments legislating for community consultation in major infrastructure projects and the increasing role of public relations practitioners to manage these programs. This study explores community engagement founded on relational theory and proposed a typology of engagement employing a relational framework. An exploratory study of 20 Australian infrastructure projects with a mandatory consultation component is analyzed applying this framework. Results indicate little discrimination between the terms engagement, consultation, and participation; however, a range of tactics supported both collaborative and advocacy approaches. The implications for adopting a relational framework for community engagement programs are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• community engagement
• community consultation
• public relations
• relational framework
• typology

The author would like to acknowledge the contributions of the two anonymous reviews and the insightful feedback to improve this research. This manuscript has been adapted from a presentation at the Australian New Zealand Communication Association Conference in Melbourne, Australia in July 2007.