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

All articles

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
A council town planner at a large wall map of a neighborhood explaining it to a colleague holding a printed plan
Strategy & Frameworks

Community Participation Plan (NSW): Requirements and 2026 Changes

NSW now has one statewide community participation plan. What it requires, the minimum exhibition periods, and what it means for council engagement.

By CE Canvas Team
Two council policy officers at a table, one reading a bound policy document while the other marks up a printed draft
Strategy & Frameworks

Community Engagement Documents Required by Law: A Global Guide

Many laws require public bodies to publish how they will engage. Here is what these documents are, where they apply and what project teams should check.

By CE Canvas Team
A community engagement officer in a high-visibility vest talking with residents at the fence of a neighborhood road works site while a site worker points out the work area on a plan
Planning & Design

Community Engagement for Construction and Infrastructure Projects

A practical guide to community engagement on construction and infrastructure projects: what the plan covers, how it changes by phase, and worked examples.

By CE Canvas Team
Illustration of community comments being analysed into evidence-based findings connected to a decision.
Trust, Quality & Decisions

What We Heard Report Template and How to Write One

How to write a community engagement report people trust: the steps, a what we heard template, how to show influence, and mistakes to avoid.

By CE Canvas Team
A model neighbourhood surrounded by stacks of consultation invitations, representing repeated demands on the same community.
Planning & Design

Cumulative Consultation: The Demand We Don't Measure

Each project measures its own participation. A shared consultation register can reveal the repeated demands being placed on the same community.

By CE Canvas Team
CE Canvas and Scopomap integration — connecting community intelligence with engagement planning.
Planning & Design

Better Engagement Starts with Better Community Intelligence

Scopomap community intelligence now connects directly with CE Canvas engagement planning.

By CE Canvas Team
Person at a laptop taking handwritten notes, with overlaid icons for AI, e-learning, training and presentations.
Strategy & Frameworks

From Training to Practice: Closing the Engagement Implementation Gap

Training teaches what good engagement looks like. The harder part is applying it on Monday morning, on every project, whoever leads the work.

By Colin Ellis
A group of women wearing name badges sitting in a circle at a community workshop, applauding and talking with one another in a bright meeting room.
Strategy & Frameworks

Beyond the Digital Engagement Platform

A digital engagement platform delivers participation. The practice around it is what connects participation to the decision.

By CE Canvas Team
Project team gathered around a table, pointing at printed charts and plans covered in sticky notes during a planning workshop
Trust, Quality & Decisions

The Hard Part Comes After the Engagement Framework Is Finished

Approving an engagement framework is the easy part. The hard work is turning its principles into the hundreds of decisions staff make on every project.

By CE Canvas Team
stakeholders in a public space
Planning & Design

Your stakeholder map is a snapshot, not the landscape

Stakeholder maps record a team’s current judgement—not a permanent truth. Learn when to reassess the map, preserve its history and adapt engagement.

By CE Canvas Team