Engaging London

Updating the community engagement playbook for London

Our research project considers how the built environment sector can secure strategic advantage from community engagement by involving people directly affected by urban development. Find out how to join in.

There’s a growing consensus that the sector must work closely with the communities that are most affected to deliver viable, equitable and sustainable urban development.

Previous Future of London research showed that many professionals feel ill-equipped to meaningfully engage with diverse resident voices. Our research also showed the value of community engagement for individuals, communities and organisations.

Download the report, Towards more meaningful community engagement

Project impact

Engaging London aims to reshape how the sector approaches community engagement through comprehensive research and collaboration with industry leaders.

The new engagement playbook will share strategies to help practitioners create buy-in for more meaningful engagement approaches.

We will demonstrate that community engagement is more than just a mandatory process – it offers a strategic advantage for local authorities and public sector partners.

This project will develop strategies for generating stakeholder buy-in. We will make the case for community engagement as more than just a mandatory process – and instead a strategic advantage for both local authorities and public sector partners alike.

Rethinking community engagement in London

To understand the characteristics of successful community engagement, we will:

collate examples of how sector professionals successfully helped to turn community engagement from a cost into a competitive advantage
explore ways to get organisational buy-in for more meaningful community engagement from diverse voices through case studies and roundtable discussions.
ask why projects were successful and what other practitioners can learn from these success stories

Read Anna Odedun’s blog post on why community collaboration offers a strategic advantage

Gathering insights and evidence

Practical insights will be rooted in a rich academic evidence base. This work is supported by Future of London’s collaboration with Azul Castañeda, Open University PhD candidate, funded by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge AHRC Doctoral Training Partnership.

We will create a practical ‘playbook’ that helps practitioners advocate for the value of meaningful community engagement and gain buy-in from key stakeholders across the sector.

Engaging key stakeholders

We will engage current champions of meaningful community engagement (and some sceptics!) from across the sector, including:

Local and national government practitioners – across all levels of seniority
Housing associations, developers, architects, engineers, and consultants
Professional bodies, advocacy groups, community groups, and not-for-profits
Universities, academics and researchers

Find out more

For more information about Engaging London, please contact programme lead, Azul Castañeda Azul@futureoflondon.org.uk