This method will help you plan your Community Engagement events to get the best out of the people you invite.

Why you should do it  

• Working with people helps you create things for them. This is more effective than making assumptions about what they need, a key goal of inclusive innovation
• Taking part in events gives people the chance to share their nuanced perspectives and experiences
• If you invite a diverse group of people to your event you will understand your problem from a richer and more inclusive point of view
• Watching people as well as listening to them can give you an insight into unspoken attitudes and behaviours as well as the things people tell you directly
• You get a chance to see people disagree with each other and work through their differences, helping you reach consensus and agreement

Number of attendees  

There is no set limit for how many people can attend an event. If you have more than about 8 people, we recommend breaking out into groups of 4 to 8 people for activities.

Resources you need  

You will need at least one facilitator (and maybe more for a big event).  

For an in-person event you might need:

• tables for group work
• paper, pens or pencils, sticky notes
• anything else you need for your activities, like glue, scissors, Sellotape, Blu-Tak, magazines, Lego
• drinks and snacks, if your event is going to last a while

This might look like a list for primary school students. But in fact, activities that use things like glue, scissors and Lego are great for adults too. They can help open up different ways of thinking that don’t just rely on discussion and writing.

For an online event, you will need to choose and set up:  

• videoconferencing software, like Zoom, Teams or Google Meet  
• an online whiteboard if you want one, like Mural or Miro 

Always make sure all your activities are accessible to all your attendees, and come up with alternative ways for people to take part. See our guidelines on running accessible sessions for tips on making sure nobody is excluded.

Organising your event  

Start planning as soon as possible – ideally 6 to 8 weeks in advance.

Choose a date:

• Make sure there isn’t a competing event at the same time for the same group of people
• Or maybe you can tag your engagement onto an existing event, for example a community event that is already happening with a group you want to talk to
• Consider school holidays, travel logistics, and anything else that could impact people’s availability

Find a place (for in-person events):

• Make it as easy as possible for people to get to your event
• Think about locations your attendees already use, like a local community centre
• Consider physical accessibility like wheelchair access
• But don’t forget about other types of accessibility needs, like light, noise and temperature

Find out who you need to speak to, to check availability and book your space.

Invite the people:

• People are busy, so the sooner you send out invites the better
• For tips on finding the right people, see our advice on finding and building a network
• You may need to go back and tweak the dates, location and other arrangements until you find the sweet spot that works for the most people