Familiarity with IAP2 Engagement Essentials and Practice

INTRODUCTION

Within the IAP2 engagement practices training programme under the Civil Service Institute of Aotearoa New Zealand, you will find a wealth of preparatory knowledge for community engagement, from planning to implementation, as well as the unique opportunity to develop the practical soft skills required for effective front-line implementation, and structured interactions with representatives from Aotearoa’s ethnic, faith-based, rainbow, and disabled communities, to provide you and your colleagues with the skills that they need to engage effectively.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this programme is to address the specific and immediate needs of the Aotearoa New Zealand public sector in its engagement capabilities with ethnic, faith-based, rainbow, and disabled communities. This will be achieved through the introduction of basic engagement concepts, principles, and practices, via provision of the Engagement Essentials component to introduce the key concepts and processes in the IAP2 Engagement Model, and via a practicum component of tailored exercises to strengthen soft skills and the community specific knowledge that will unpin successful engagement.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this programme are to:

  • Explore a contemporary model of community engagement
  • Demonstrate understanding of the different uses of engagement
  • Identify why, when and in what way to engage
  • Determine the community and stakeholder factors that shape engagement
  • Identify the core elements for effective engagement
  • Develop awareness of the five steps for effective engagement
  • Explore engagement case studies and the lessons learned
  • Develop engagement based soft skills through interaction
  • Identify key cultural elements through interaction with community representative

OUTCOMES

By the end of this engagement familiarity programme, you will understand the essential elements of a best practice contemporary model for engagement and the next steps you, or your organisation, need to take. In addition, you will develop hands-on skills lessons learned awareness for engagement in practice, with supporting knowledge specific to the ethnic, faith-based, rainbow, and disabled communities of Aotearoa New Zealand.

 

CONTENT

The content of this programme is based on a 2 day, 4 session training schedule, and includes the following content framework. Depending on the specific needs of each client, these elements may be elaborated to ensure sufficient coverage and depth.

  • IAP2 methodology and other relevant frameworks, processes and models that are relevant to participants and the operating context they operate in. These draw on Engagement Essentials and Design, Methods (face-to-face and digital platforms), Facilitation, and Conflict.
  • Multicultural focused engagement including
    • Te Tiriti O Waitangi
    • Te Arawhiti Engagement Framework and Guidelines
  • DPMC Open Government Policy Project
  • Community engagement lessons learned from the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques
  • Content specific to the underserved ethnic and faith communities of Aotearoa New Zealand that the Institute is working with to improve public sector engagement capacity.
  • Practicum activities in small groups and plenary to:
    • provide practical experience on direct engagement approaches with diverse communities
    • strengthen soft skills development for front-line engagement

DELIVERY

BESPOKE CONTENT

As the content of the course is bespoke, being tailored to the specific needs of each client organisation, delivery content may vary in terms of duration and depth.

20 PARTICIPANTS (MAXIMUM)

Cohort sizes will be limited to up to 20 participants. The online delivery platform will allow for the participation of smaller teams through their inclusion into cohorts with others.

DURATION TO SUIT

The time requirement varies by the requirements of each cohort, with each implementation of the course taking 2 to 6 sessions, and the average being 4 sessions (2 days). Each session is 2 hours long to prevent screen fatigue.

ONLINE CLASSROOM DELIVERY

Delivery of this course is online, via a virtual real-time classroom environment. This will allow meaningful interactions between participants, the facilitator, and minority community representatives, while still permitting the use of small groups for conducting learning activities. It will also allow the continuation of service in the event of COVID-19 related difficulties, and offer distributed teams the opportunity to train together.

Sample Programme

  • Day One / Sessions 1 and 2 – Engagement Essentials

    1. The role of the engagement practitioner
    2. Core values and ethics
    3. Contemporary engagement
      1. The definition of engagement
      2. The uses of engagement
      3. The benefits of engagement
      4. Community engagement
    4. Five essential elements of engagement in practice
      1. Understanding context
      2. Scope the project
      3. Understand people
      4. Set purpose of the engagement
      5. Shape influence
    5. Quality assurance standards
  • Day 2 / Sessions 3 and 4 – Engagement Practice
    1. The diverse groups in the Aotearoa New Zealand population.
    2. Cultural considerations (by ethnic community)
    3. Exercise One: exploration of an engagement case study (plenary)
      1. Reading/viewing of case study
      2. Comments from participants
      3. Debrief with facilitator
    4. Exercise Two: development of an engagement plan/outline (small group)
      1. Reading/viewing of context
      2. Development of outline
      3. Debrief with facilitator (plenary)
    5. Exercise Three: observing an engagement activity (plenary)
      1. Observation
      2. Comments and debrief
    6. Exercise Four: participating in an engagement activity (small group)
      1. Participation
      2. Comments and debrief with facilitator (plenary)