Royal Borough of Greenwich are transforming community engagement through the launch of their first ever community engagement framework, the Our Greenwich: Community Engagement Pledge.
Councillor Anthony Okereke, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, said: “As part of Our Greenwich, we committed to be better at listening to our communities, and making sure our residents feel heard.
“That’s why we’re taking the bold step to set up the Council’s first dedicated community engagement team. With the help of residents, partners and colleagues across the Council, we collaborated to create the Our Greenwich: Community Engagement Pledge to ensure we place residents at the heart of the decisions we take.
“This pledge holds us to account and presses us to be inclusive, ground-breaking and unapologetically ambitious in how we work with our communities to shape our services.
“No one knows our communities needs and aspirations better than our communities themselves, and by paying attention to your thoughts and ideas, together we can continue to build a Greenwich which is truly ‘Ours’.”
The Community Engagement Pledge and accompanying Handbook were crafted following a nine-week engagement and consultation programme with residents, Council staff, community organisations and partners. This rigorous process led to hundreds of comments, all influencing the content of the final framework.
The pledge:
• provides guidance for the Council to consistently deliver high quality engagement with residents
• celebrates and promotes good practice in consultation and engagement
• establishes a system for quality, confidence and high standards in all aspects of community engagement
• outlines monitoring outcomes and performance
• gives residents, officers and members a clear understanding of the decision-making influence of communities.
The pledge will help them achieve real and lasting change, including setting up a borough wide Community Engagement Panel. The panel of residents, Council representatives and organisations will monitor quality and push for more and better community engagement. To learn more about the panel and how to join, contact [email protected]
The Community Engagement Pledge supports Our Greenwich, the Council’s four-year strategic plan, based around 20 missions for a better borough and commitment to genuine partnership working.
Download the pledge and handbook documents
Printed copies are also available to read at libraries and community centres across the borough. Translations are also available on request.
To keep up to date, click here