COURSE TITLE:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Unit – I

Introduction to
Community Engagement
 Lecture 1

Concept, Ethics and Spectrum of

Community Engagement
 Learning Objectives

• To understand the concept of community

engagement at large
• To learn the origin of community engagement in
Indian perspective
• To identify the different areas of community
engagement
• To familiarize with the ethics in community
engagement
 OVERVIEW

• This lecture intends to orient the learners with the

concept of community engagement at large and its
benefits to the society.

• The lecture focuses on the objectives and features of

community engagement and its various types.

• Lastly, it will also explain the ethics involved in the

development of community engagement and the
various spectrums of community engagement.
 INTRODUCTION
• A community is a collection
of people who are linked by
one or more characteristics.
The factor that binds people
together is at the heart of
the group.

• A certain segment of the

population is bound
together by a common
thread, as shown by the root
and suffix of the word
(common- unity).
 CONCEPTS OF COMMUNITY

SYSTEMS SOCIAL VIRTUAL INDIVIDUAL

PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE PERSPECTIVE
 Systems Perspective
From a systems perspective, a community is
similar to a living creature, comprising different
parts that represent specialized functions,
activities, or interests, each operating within
specific boundaries to meet community needs.
 Systems Perspective

For example, schools focus on

education, the transportation sector
focuses on moving people and
products, economic entities focus on
enterprise and employment, faith
organizations focus on the spiritual
and physical well-being of people,
and health care agencies focus on
the prevention and treatment of
diseases and injuries (Henry, 2011).
 Social Perspective

A community can also be defined by describing

the social and political networks that link
individuals, community organizations, and
leaders.
 Social Perspective
• For example, tracing social ties among
individuals may help engagement leaders to
identify a community’s leadership, understand
its behavior patterns, identify its high-risk
groups, and strengthen its networks (Minkler
et al, 1997).
 Virtual Perspective
Social groups or groups with a common interest
that interact in an organized fashion on the
Internet are considered “Virtual communities”
(Rheingold, 2000; Ridings et al, 2002).
 Virtual Perspective
Examples of computer-mediated forms of
communication include email, instant or text
messaging, e-chat rooms, and social networking
sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter
(Flavian et al, 2005).
 Individual Perspective
Individuals have their
own sense of
community membership
that is beyond the
definitions of
community applied by
researchers and
engagement leaders.
 Individual Perspective
• Individuals may have a sense of belonging to
more than one community. In addition, their
sense of membership can change over time
and may affect their participation in
community activities (Minkler et al, 2004).
 Origin of Community Development
• Community development is a dynamic
relational process that provides
communication, contact, engagement, and
exchange between an organization and a
community of social and organizational results
through community participation,
constituency building, and community
psychology.
 Origin of Community Development
• Community Development encompasses the
knowledge, expertise, and sensitivity required
to apply and adapt science to the needs of a
community with a specific engagement goal.
• Community Development combines
engagement strategies with an ethical,
reflective, and socially sensitive approach to
community- organizational partnerships.
 Community Involvement
• Community involvement is the
process by which individuals
form long-term relationships for
the benefit of the community as
a whole, intending to bring about
positive change through
empowerment.
• Community engagement is
assessing the risk and taking
action in response to public
health emergencies that affect
people who live and work in the
same geographic region and
share similar goals and values.
 Community Engagement
• …the process of working
collaboratively with and
through groups of people
affiliated by geographic
proximity, special interest, or
similar situations to address
issues affecting the well-being
of those people.
• It is a powerful vehicle for
bringing about environmental
and behavioral changes that
will improve the health of the
community and its members.
 The Spectrum of Community
Engagement

Informing Consulting Involving Collaborating Empowering

The Spectrum of Community Engagement
 The Importance of Community
Engagement
• Citizens are said to be "engaged" when they
participate actively in deliberations, discussions,
decision-making, and/or execution of initiatives
or programs that impact them.
• Community engagement increases the visibility
and understanding of issues and empowers
communities to have their say over decisions
that affect their lives, their towns, cities and
neighborhoods.
Approaches for Community
Engagement
Communication
for behavioral
impact

Social Crisis
mobilization communication

Approaches to
community
engagement

Communication
Risk
for development
communication
(CAD)

Health
Education
Communication for Behavioral Impact
• Communication for Behavioral Impact, COMBI,
is a 10-step communication planning method
directed at designing effective behavioral
communication programs for achieving specific
behavioral outcomes in health and social
development.
• It bridges the gap between Knowing what to do
and the Doing, recognizing that it is one thing to
Know, another to Do. Communication for
Knowing is quite different from Communication
for Doing.
 Crisis Communication
Crisis communication can be defined broadly
as the collection, processing, and dissemination of
Information required to address a crisis situation.
 Risk communication
• Risk communication is communication
intended to supply audience members with
the information they need to make informed,
independent judgments about risks to health,
safety, and the environment.
• Example- A government agency calculates the
risk of an earthquake based on the frequency
of historical earthquakes in a region.
Health Communication/Education
• Health communication is the study and
practice of communicating promotional health
information, such as in public health
campaigns, health education, and between
doctor and patient.
• The purpose of disseminating health
information is to influence personal health
choices by improving health literacy.
 Communication for Development
(C4D)
• Communication for Development (C4D) –is
about understanding the needs of communities
and individuals to develop context-specific
people-centered solutions aiming to overcome
existing challenges that hamper the adoption of
desired behaviors so that children and women,
including the most disadvantaged, will .
• Example- Girls dropping out of school, eliminate
violence against children or child marriage.
 Social Mobilization
• Social mobilization is the process of bringing
together all possible inter sectoral partners
and allies to participate in development
programmes. It builds on the contribution of
technical experts, and emphasizes the
capabilities and roles of social allies and
partners including community members.
• Example- Social Mobilization for the Poorest
 Elements of the Community

Community engagements are grassroots

movements that include communities to bring
about positive change in the community at
large.
Followings are the elements:

A group of A specific Community

Naturalness Permanency Commonality
individuals location feel
Types of Community Engagement

Traditional Research

Community-Engaged
Research

Shared Leadership
 Traditional Research:

In this type of community

engagement scientific
method, ethical
requirements, and
feasibility; input from
participants are taken
into consideration to
make the lowest
community engagement.
 Community-Engaged Research:

It is input of
community to identify
the issues to create a
culturally acceptable
environment and to
incorporate their
ethical considerations.
 Shared Leadership:

It is a community-
based participatory
research. Here the
maximum levels of
community are
represented to identify
the topic or issue to be
studied.
 THE ETHICS OF COMMUNITY
ENGAGEMENT
Ethics in community
engagement
involves:

What we do? How we do?

 What we do?
• What is the motivation for engaging the
community?
• Whose interests are being served?
• Is it contributing to community well-being?
• Is it a two-way process?
• Is it contributing to environmental
sustainability?
 How we do it?
Ethical community engagement involves
working to high ethical standards and so how we
go about engagement is vitally important.
• Careful planning and preparation: Through
adequate and inclusive planning, ensure that
the design, organization, and convening of the
process serve both a clearly defined purpose
and the needs of the participants.
 How we do it?
• Inclusion and demographic diversity:
Equitably incorporate diverse people, voices,
ideas, and information to lay the groundwork for
quality outcomes and democratic legitimacy.

• Collaboration and shared purpose:

Support and encourage participants, government
and community institutions, and others to work
together to advance the common good.
 How we do it?
• Openness and learning:
Help all involved listen to each other, explore
new ideas.

• Transparency and trust:

Be clear and open about the process, and
provide a public record of the organizers,
sponsors, outcomes, and range of views and
ideas expressed.
 How we do it?
• Impact and action: Ensure each participatory
effort has real potential to make a difference,
and that participants are aware of that
potential.
• Sustained engagement and participatory
culture: Promote a culture of participation
with programs and institutions that support
ongoing quality public engagement.
 Conclusion
• In this lecture we learned:

• Concept of community engagement and its

benefits to the society at large.
• How one can follow the ethics in the
community engagement?
• We learned about the various approaches of
community engagement and its spectrum.