London Councils has confirmed the launch of the Supporting London Boroughs Engagement Project’s final report, which saw councils in the capital supported to carry out innovative engagement projects.
Funding for the project came from the Greater London Authority and was led by London Councils, with some of the projects involved including:
- The establishment of the Kingston Disability Network
- Improving access to council services for residents who are deaf or hard of hearing
- Using human library libraries to people’s experiences in Westminster
- Using participatory budgeting to empower two estates Islington to vote or community projects of their choice.
The project began in spring 2023, with 13 boroughs across London being given grant funding from the GLA, to ensure that they can improve connections with their communities. Support was also offered through London Councils’ ‘Learning Partner’, with this support including helping councils to meet their specific aims, understanding the impact of community engagement projects, as well as identifying future opportunities and common practice.
According to the report, the way that the projects impacted communities was varied and wide-reaching, with four key themes emerging as the most powerful effects on residents. These four themes are:
- New communities engaged
- Increased Inclusivity and Accessibility
- Strengthened levels of trust
- Longer lasting community connections forged
Touching on the ‘new communities engaged’ element, one grantee spoke about a project to engage new residents through the provision of multilingual services. The grantee said:
“They feel that we are coming to them and not limiting to people who can speak English. We engaged with people on their turf and in their home language.”
Despite the successes of the project, there are also some challenges that emerged throughout the process. These challenges were felt by both councils and residents. The main challenges that councils experienced came with relying on other colleagues that were outside of their teams, ensuring that there was enough time and resource to deliver the project effectively, as well as understanding the impact that could be measured.
Issues that communities faced throughout the process include reimbursement, initial challenges over engagement for residents that aren’t already ‘plugged in’ to council services, and the learning curve of many grantees participating in research and co-design for the first time.
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