Understanding community to engage community: the use of qualitative research techniques in local government community engagement

Abstract

Local government departments charged with the responsibility of engaging with their communities require a codified evidence base for designing and delivering engagement initiatives. This is vital if the engagement initiative is to take effective account of the often multifarious and divergent needs that present within the community. This was the case for the Community Development and Facilities Branch of the Toowoomba Regional Council in Queensland, which in partnership with social researchers based in an Australian regional university set about developing a sequenced professional development programme that up‐skilled council staff in field‐based qualitative research approaches. This article addresses findings from this collaboration, as well as detailing more broadly the role qualitative social research might play in local government community engagement practice. Core concerns are how the views, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of a community might be gathered through qualitative social research and the ways in which this might inform engagement initiatives.

Keywords:

• community engagement
• local government
• qualitative research
• social research
• practitioner-researcher
• Australia

Acknowledgment

This article was supported by an Australian Centre of Excellence for Local Government (ACELG) Partnership Grant. We acknowledge our indebtedness to ACELG, University of Technology, Sydney, for providing this funding and enabling the project from which this article reports to proceed.