Sharing Learnings from the Engaged & Learnings from the Engaged – A Case Study

Harris P¹*, Thompson O²*, Key A¹, Lazzarini P¹, Monteith R¹, Canavan M¹, Armstrong E¹, Seiler C¹ and Boyland D¹

1. Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Nambour, Queensland, Australia
2. Landholder, Gundiah

In 2000 the Queensland Government required the development of advice and recommendations on vegetation management through the establishment of a regional community engagement process to support a statutory planning exercise. At this time the community engagement environment in Southeast Queensland was characterised by:

• About 72% of the State’s population in 3% of the State’s area
• Little or no previous exposure to tree clearing policy
• Diverse sectoral interests
• A well-informed and politically active community, experienced in group processes with high demands on their time for consultation
• Competing issues of rapid population growth, urban sprawl, infrastructure development, protecting biodiversity and rural community values.

The community engagement process adopted in Southeast Queensland has been claimed as worlds best practice in several forums and involved a large amount of investment from government and community. There is however mixed reports on the level of success and the outcomes of the process – depending which sector is reporting and on what basis “success” is measured.

This case study documents the learnings from the community engagement process. It explores the critical thinking from the “engagers” that led to the design and use of particular practices, activities and approaches for the process – and their learnings on the experience – then reviews the experiences of the “engaged” in the process, how they “experienced the activities, practices and processes” – and their learnings from participating. It concludes with recommendations from these learnings.

The case study includes an interactive presentation involving both the community and government planning staff.

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