We want our community to feel informed, involved and empowered to participate in decisions that shape the future of our city.

Why do we engage?

There are many reasons why we undertake community engagement and while it is often used to inform our decision-making, we may also undertake engagement to:

  • Share information
  • Comply with legislation
  • Understand community sentiment
  • Problem solve
  • Improve proposals
  • Build or enhance relationships
  • Change behaviours
  • Identify problems or opportunities
  • Manage risk
  • Develop community capacity or resilience
  • Understand levels of support.

Overview of the engagement process

  • Timeline item 1 - active

    Project need

    • Legislative requirements
    • Project scope, budget, timing, other constraints

  • Timeline item 2 - active

    Engagement planning and delivery

    • Purpose of the engagement
    • Identifying key stakeholders
    • Level of impact and interest among stakeholders
    • Tools and methods used for informing and engaging the community
    • Accessibility
    • Managing community expectations
    • Internal capacity and capability

  • Timeline item 3 - active

    Review of engagement and feedback

    • Who we heard from, what we heard, and how we can use the feedback to improve the project
    • How effective was the engagement?

  • Timeline item 4 - active

    Decision-making

    • What should we do in response to feedback from the community?

  • Timeline item 5 - active

    Reporting on engagement outcomes

    • Closing the loop with the community and summarising how feedback influenced the project outcomes

How do we engage?

We select communications and engagement tools based on the purpose of the engagement, the information we want to collect, the stakeholder groups we want to hear from, the impact of the project and the time available to make a decision.

We use best practice engagement resources, models and approaches developed by the Engagement Institute. This includes the Public Participation Spectrum, a globally recognised framework that underpins our Community Engagement Strategy 2023–2026. It defines five levels of engagement:

We will keep the community informed about CN's activities, decisions made and direction.

We will listen to and acknowledge community concerns and aspirations and provide feedback on how community input influenced the decision.

We will work with the community to ensure that concerns and aspirations are directly reflected in the options developed and provide feedback on how community input influenced the decision.

We will work with the community, so their advice, innovations and recommendations are included in the final decision that we make together.

We will implement what you decide.

What are our objectives?

To find out more about engagement at City of Newcastle, view our Community Engagement Strategy 2023-2026.