Aslin JA (Australian Bureau of Rural Sciences, Canberra); Brown VA (University of Western Sydney)
1876830603
Natural resources; Resource management; Decision making; Community involvement; Community education; Participation; Participative management; Participatory learning; Techniques; Bibliographies
There is an increasing recognition that robust long-term natural resource management decision-making requires reliable collective decision-making processes in which all relevant stakeholders are involved. Community engagement goes beyond community consultation or community participation and engenders a sense of ownership of process and outcomes. This toolkit is designed for anyone involved in community engagement processes. Although it focuses particularly on engaging communities in natural resource management issues in the Murray-Darling Basin, much of the material has broader applicability. The toolkit is presented in three parts: starting up, choosing appropriate tools and resources. The section on starting up establishes the principles of community engagement, the factors which enhance community engagement processes, and discusses how they can be applied using various tools and techniques. The second section considers the values and uses of each of twelve tools and how to choose the most appropriate technique for a given situation. Section three is an annotated bibliography of more detailed reading and useful web sites (A).