Effective community engagement is a critical component of planning, decision making, and action implementation. Community engagement helps build understanding of the challenges and assets in your community, increases options for action and builds community ownership of solutions. While public meetings have an important role, effective engagement is an ongoing process of connecting with and hearing from community members in a variety of ways, seeking input and involvement long before an issue or topic comes up for vote. In this session we will explore:
- Benefits and challenges of engagement
- Identifying and connecting across your community
- Balancing varied engagement strategies, both virtual and in person
Presenters:
Sue Cagle: Field Specialist, Community and Economic Development, Grafton County, UNH Extension
Nate Bernitz: Field Specialist, Community and Economic Development - Seacoast, UNH Extension
If you need an accommodation to participate in our programming, please contact Sue Cagle (sue.cagle@unh.edu) prior to the event. Given ample time, we will make any reasonable effort to meet your needs, including language access services if requested, which will be provided free of charge.
