2 About the evaluation
2.1 In May 2007 Communities Scotland Commissioned Clear Plan ( UK) Ltd to carry out an evaluation of the impact of the National Standards for Community Engagement on improving community engagement practice and on demonstrating the impact of community engagement on service planning and delivery.
2.2 Prior to commissioning the evaluation, seven geographic areas with demonstrable experience of community engagement practice and use of the National Standards for Community Engagement were selected to inform the evaluation. The evaluation focused on practice in Argyll and Bute, Aberdeenshire, Highland, Stirling, South Lanarkshire, West Lothian and West Glasgow.
2.3 In two of the geographic areas the practice example was identified before the evaluation commenced. In the remaining five areas the consultants used a 'snowball sampling' methodology to identify potential examples of practice for further study. This consisted of initial interviews with key contacts in each of the selected geographic areas. These interviews were used to identify a long list of potential examples of practice in each area. Further interviews with individuals associated with each of these examples of practice were used to gather further information on the practice.
2.4 This 'snowballing sampling' process identified a large number of potential examples of practice. These were outlined in a long list of practice examples from which a complementary set of practice examples across the seven geographic areas were selected and studied over a six month period.
2.5 Selection of the examples of practice to pursue for the study was made on the basis of :
- Potential to describe improvement in practice as a result of the influence of the National Standards.
- Potential to identify outcomes that are attributable to the community engagement activity.
- Potential to show different methods of using the National Standards.
2.6 The methods used to produce the profiles of practice in each of the geographic areas were flexible and responsive to the nature of the example and the information available. The following methods were all commonly employed.
- Interviews with staff of Community Planning Partners.
- Interviews with Community Planning Partnership staff and other staff charged with facilitating improvement in community engagement.
- Discussion groups with communities.
- Observation at planning and review meetings for community engagement activity.
- Observation at community engagement events.
- Review of documentation, including minutes of meetings, reports, resources developed from the National Standards, etc.
2.7 A total of 74 Community Planning Partnership staff, Community Learning & Development managers and practitioners and Community Planning Partner staff were interviewed to identify and develop the profiles. Discussion groups were held with communities in five of the seven areas.
2.8 A seminar, attended by some 35 managers, practitioners and community representatives from the geographic areas studied in the sample allowed these stakeholders to contribute to discussion and analysis on
- Factors affecting the impact of the National Standards.
- Learning from the experience of using the National Standards.
- Measuring the impact of the National Standards on the processes and outcomes of community engagement.
2.9 This final report provides
- Practical in depth examples of how community engagement is being tackled.
- Information on how the National Standards have been used to improve community engagement.
- An assessment of impact of the National Standards for Community Engagement.
- A summary of learning points from the study.
2.10 The report is intended to support policy-makers, managers and practitioners to understand how the National Standards can be applied in practice. The profiles of practice provide detailed descriptions of the nature of the actions that have been taken in each selected example to improve community engagement. Brief descriptions of practice that illuminate particular themes or issues are contained within the main text