Scottish Government

The standards are based on following principles:

• Fairness, equality and inclusion must underpin all aspects of community engagement, and should be reflected in both community engagement policies and the way that everyone involved participates.
• Community engagement should have clear and agreed purposes, and methods that achieve these purposes.
• Improving the quality of community engagement requires commitment to learning from experience.
• Skill must be exercised in order to build communities, to ensure practise of equalities principles, to share ownership of the agenda, and to enable all viewpoints to be reflected.
• As all parties to community engagement possess knowledge based on study, experience, observation and reflection, effective engagement processes will share and use that knowledge.
• All participants should be given the opportunity to build on their knowledge and skills.
• Accurate, timely information is crucial for effective engagement.

In summary, these principles highlight the importance of equality and recognising the diversity of people and communities; a clear sense of purpose; effective methods for achieving change; building on the skills and knowledge of all those involved; and commitment to learning for continuous improvement.