Difference between consultation and engagement

Place-making is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. The ethos capitalises on local community assets, inspiration and potential to create places that work for all, promoting people’s health, happiness, and wellbeing. In order to embrace this ethos, the design and planning processes that are currently being applied require some adjustments:

1. One fundamental change is the very much needed shift from consultation to engagement. In a consultation, people have the opportunity to express an opinion regarding a proposed design solution. Through engagement, people are given the opportunity to be part of the design process and shape that design solution in collaboration with professionals and other stakeholders.

2. Another necessary change refers to how timely the engagement process is and how it continues through and beyond the design process. For engagement inputs to be valuable and meaningful, these need to happen very early in the design process, from feasibility stage and ideally even before. Depending of the size and impact of the scheme, participants should be able to shape the vision for the place and contribute to establishing the constraints and opportunities that shape the concept design.

3. Fundamentally, all parties need to engage with total transparency through the whole process, providing information, avoiding over-promising, setting up reachable goals and expectations and establishing clear boundaries to enable everyone involved to contribute to the best of their capacity and capability according to their roles.