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Why is community participation important?
In Barnet, we want to empower communities and work with them on things they care about. This is vital to making sure that everyone in Barnet can live their best lives now and in generations to come.
When communities participate in the decisions that affect their lives and the services they use, or help shape the places they live, everyone benefits.
Communities themselves have unique insight into their own situation. They have knowledge, ideas and power which are essential assets in building confident and resilient neighbourhoods. As a council, when we create trusted and collaborative relationships with communities we all contribute to a better Barnet.
Community participation is not a one-off activity, or a “nice-to-have”. It is a about a culture shift that puts communities at the heart of decisions and services that affect their lives. This requires us to have ongoing conversations with communities, and to be ready to work alongside our residents and adapt our approach as we go.
This toolkit aims to support you on this journey.
How to use this toolkit
This toolkit provides support in a series of situations you may encounter as you develop your community participation activities. It is designed:
To support everyone – from a total beginner to an experienced participation expert.
It includes explainers, links to useful tools, and case studies from Barnet and beyond.
Throughout the toolkit you’ll be able to hear from Barnet residents directly about the difference community participation activities make to their lives.
It is not meant to be a step-by-step guide:
The situations in the main menu are not designed to be followed in order, and these situations might arise at any point in your work.
You can move through the toolkit as a whole to get an overview, skip to specific sections when you encounter a particular situation, or see our site map for an overview of all content.
The toolkit is designed to support an approach of learning-by-doing as part of a collaborative effort across the whole council. If you have any ideas to make this toolkit more useful, please email the Community Participation team at consultation@barnet.gov.uk
Below is a prompt question to help you think about the spread of power between the council and the community.
In Barnet, we want to empower communities and work with them on things they care about. This is vital to making sure that everyone in Barnet can live their best lives now and in generations to come.
When communities participate in the decisions that affect their lives and the services they use, or help shape the places they live, everyone benefits.
Communities themselves have unique insight into their own situation. They have knowledge, ideas and power which are essential assets in building confident and resilient neighbourhoods. As a council, when we create trusted and collaborative relationships with communities we all contribute to a better Barnet.
Community participation is not a one-off activity, or a “nice-to-have”. It is a about a culture shift that puts communities at the heart of decisions and services that affect their lives. This requires us to have ongoing conversations with communities, and to be ready to work alongside our residents and adapt our approach as we go.
This toolkit aims to support you on this journey.
How to use this toolkit
This toolkit provides support in a series of situations you may encounter as you develop your community participation activities. It is designed:
To support everyone – from a total beginner to an experienced participation expert.
It includes explainers, links to useful tools, and case studies from Barnet and beyond.
Throughout the toolkit you’ll be able to hear from Barnet residents directly about the difference community participation activities make to their lives.
It is not meant to be a step-by-step guide:
The situations in the main menu are not designed to be followed in order, and these situations might arise at any point in your work.
You can move through the toolkit as a whole to get an overview, skip to specific sections when you encounter a particular situation, or see our site map for an overview of all content.
The toolkit is designed to support an approach of learning-by-doing as part of a collaborative effort across the whole council. If you have any ideas to make this toolkit more useful, please email the Community Participation team at consultation@barnet.gov.uk
Below is a prompt question to help you think about the spread of power between the council and the community.
