Practice guides and research

Community engagement practice

Practical guides on community engagement practice for governments and public agencies: engagement strategy and frameworks, planning, the IAP2 spectrum, stakeholder mapping, what-we-heard reporting, closing the loop and responsible AI.

Two residents across a workshop table from a facilitator, leaning over a printed map with sticky notes

Start with the guides

Five practice guides that bring the articles together, one for each part of community engagement.

Featured article

Three engagement practitioners filling in a printed stakeholder map grid with sticky notes
Planning & Design

Stakeholder Engagement Plan Template: A Practitioner's Guide

A free stakeholder engagement plan template in Word: set the decision, map stakeholders by stake and influence, plan outreach and build the action plan.

By CE Canvas Team

All articles

Residents of different ages discussing a housing development model with a planner
Trust, Quality & Decisions

NIMBY Meaning: What It Is and How to Engage on Housing

What NIMBY means, why the label gets in the way, and how to engage fairly on housing when opponents, supporters and the absent all have a stake.

By CE Canvas Team
Consultants and a project manager reviewing an engagement proposal and site plan
Planning & Design

How to Write a Community Engagement Proposal

What goes in a community engagement proposal, a section-by-section outline, how to price the work, and the mistakes that most often cost approval.

By CE Canvas Team
Engagement staff grouping sticky notes into themes
Planning & Design

Thematic Analysis for Community Feedback: A Practical Guide

Thematic analysis for engagement practitioners: the six phases, coding and themes, a worked example, and keeping every theme traceable.

By CE Canvas Team
An engagement officer and a colleague sorting printed community comments into groups on a table
Planning & Design

How to Create a Word Cloud in Word (and Excel and Microsoft Forms)

Word has no built-in word cloud. Three ways to make one from Word, Excel or Microsoft Forms, and how to get a cleaner result.

By CE Canvas Team
Engagement Cortex: how does it compare with the IAP2 Spectrum? A practitioner talks with two community members over a site plan at a community engagement session.
Strategy & Frameworks

Engagement Cortex Explained: How It Compares to the IAP2 Spectrum

The Engagement Institute's new Engagement Cortex model: its levels, how it differs from the IAP2 Spectrum, and what it means for your framework.

By Charles Connell
A planner talking with residents beside display boards at a public information open house in a community center in autumn
Strategy & Frameworks

Public Engagement Requirements in Canada: Federal and Provincial

How the duty to consult, the Impact Assessment Act and provincial planning laws shape public engagement in Canada, with sources.

By CE Canvas Team
A council engagement officer talking with residents around a table with a printed draft plan at a community consultation in a bright suburban hall
Strategy & Frameworks

Community Engagement Requirements in Australia: State by State

Each Australian state and territory sets its own engagement rules. What councils and planning authorities must do, with recent changes and sources.

By CE Canvas Team
Over-the-shoulder view of a smiling engagement officer searching for stakeholder mapping on a laptop, with the CE Canvas stakeholder mapping tool as the first result, a colleague laughing in the background
Strategy & Frameworks

Templates Are Easy to Find. Practice Isn't.

Search data from five countries shows practitioners look for plans and reports by name, but rarely for the practice that makes them work.

By CE Canvas Team
Two engagement practitioners reviewing printed community feedback beside a laptop
AI in Practice

Can We Just Use Copilot or ChatGPT for Community Engagement?

When Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude are enough for engagement work, where they fall short, and what an engagement-specific AI assistant adds.

By CE Canvas Team
Two engagement practitioners planning at a desk in front of a project timeline on the wall
Planning & Design

Community Engagement Project Management: Why General Tools Fall Short

Why general project tools struggle with engagement work, what engagement project management needs, and what to ask any tool before you choose.

By CE Canvas Team
A council engagement officer at a pop-up stall at a local market helping a resident fill in a short paper survey while an older resident waits with a tablet
Planning & Design

Community Survey Questions: Examples, Templates and Common Mistakes

Example community survey questions by decision type, leading questions rewritten, demographic questions, and an honest answer on how many responses you need.

By CE Canvas Team
A planning officer at a public drop-in session in a community hall talking with residents beside display boards
Strategy & Frameworks

Statement of Community Involvement: What It Covers and What Changed

What a statement of community involvement is, what it must cover, how the 2026 plan-making reforms changed it and how to apply it on every project.

By CE Canvas Team

Community Engagement Framework Series

The core sequence, in order: how credible engagement is planned, delivered and followed through.

  1. 1The Community Engagement Process: A 10-Step Order of OperationsA practical 10-step community engagement process that shows the order of operations behind credible, decision-relevant participation.
  2. 2A Promise, Not a PreferenceChoose Consult, Involve, or Collaborate as a promise your objectives, constraints, and decision authority can genuinely support.
  3. 3Stop Choosing Engagement Methods By HabitMethods should be chosen by barriers, not by routine. A barrier-first approach reaches communities that habit-driven plans repeatedly miss.
  4. 4The Step That Determines Whether Communities Trust YouClosing the feedback loop is where engagement promises are kept. Specific follow-through protects trust and improves future participation.
  5. 5Engagement Theatre: How to Spot and Stop Tokenistic ConsultationEngagement theatre is a process that implies more influence than it can deliver. How to recognize it, and correct course before trust breaks.
  6. 6The Slow Erosion of Community TrustTrust erodes when feedback loops stay unclosed. Learn why experienced communities go quiet and how to rebuild credibility over time.
  7. 7One Instrument, One AudienceOne-size engagement instruments exclude critical voices. Design questions and formats by stakeholder group to improve data quality.