In this section we consider three key questions when you’re starting something new in your community:
- What do community members want and need?
- Who’s already there and who can help?
- What are you going to do?
Incredible Edible groups pride themselves in being focussed on what’s important in their local communities. Quite often group members will have their fingers on the pulse of what’s going on in their networks, however sometimes it’s good to take a step back and consider if there are other priorities for other people which the group can help with.
1. What do community members want and need?
You want to be sure that people will be interested in your planned activities – there’s no point in planting lots of peas and beans if people in the area love sweetcorn and potatoes. And you want to be sure that what you do is needed – maybe someone else is already growing lots of sweetcorn and potatoes. So ask! Think about different ways to meet people from the community to have a chat about what’s important. Here are some tried and tested ideas for how to engage with your wider community:
- Put flyers through doors to let people know you’re having a community meeting over a cuppa in the local café.
- Give a talk and have a chat with the local knitting group.
- Talk to other organisations you’ve identified to see what needs they are aware of, like the local GP or the primary school.
- Local Libraries are a good place to engage with the public, have a table with the relevant information about the project and ask for comments either face-to-face or to be placed in a comments box.
- Door to door surveys in the locality or your new project – this can be time consuming and not everyone will want to speak to you, but it’s a great way to hear a range of views.
- Run a drop-in workshop – it’s more informal than a public meeting.
If it’s a significant project, it is also possible to get funding to research your project which could include community consultation. Ask the local university or college if they would be able to help out, it might make an interesting project for students to get involved with. Never get in an argument with anyone about your project – allow them to say their piece then move on. Reflect on those views later and see how you can address any concerns.
In every community there are lots of people and organisations who know things which will be important to the success of your activity, so get chatting and get learning. If you’re from the community it can be tempting to think that you already know what’s needed, however we find this process of analysis and discussion is crucial to really understand what to do next.
2. Who’s already there and who can help?
Identify people, organisations, businesses and agencies already working in your area who might help or hinder your idea. Then think about how interested and influential they could be to the success of your activity. You might want to use a grid like this to plot where they sit:
For example, is there a community centre or local group who provide resources and services to the local community? They have an interest in other organisations who work in the area, and they have an influence on activities happening in the area because they are a great way to get messages out to the community about what is happening. When you identify a potential Ally for your activities, you can go and talk to the staff so you know what is being planned which could provide insight into what might work in that community.
When you’ve identified who else is already doing things in your area, and decided if they’re interested or influential in your plans, then you can prioritise who you want to speak to and who it is important to keep informed about your plans.
3. What are you going to do?
Once you know what people are interested in, what’s important and what’s needed in the community, plus who else is there and what’s already happening, then you can identify what you can do to be Incredible. You might have identified lots of things which could be done; don’t feel overwhelmed, think about what is already there to help you:
- Skills and knowledge
- Community resources
- Materials
- Networks of contacts
- Other organisations
And pick something which can be achieved with the resources you have – believe in the power of small actions, we can change things one step at a time.
Once you’ve decided what you’d like to do, go back to the people you’ve spoken to and chat it through with them – they might have ideas to help refine your plans, or could offer you support. And remember, plans are there to be changed, so if you’ve started trying one thing but it doesn’t seem to be working, think back on all your discussions and see what you could do differently – try that, and if it doesn’t work then tweak again and keep going, you’ll find the thing that works soon enough!
This process of engagement and discussion doesn’t just happen at the start of your activity; keep people informed and able to influence what you do as you progress, this way your activity is more likely to meet the needs of the people you want to be connecting with – rather than what you want to do. And with more people involved in your activities you’ve got a better chance of success.
