Engagement

Civics Education

Civics education is about fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging people to understand their rights and duties, including their obligations to respect the law, and the more formal processes of civic life, such as how laws are made and how voting works. It also encompasses engagement with local and central government and opportunities to participate in decision-making processes.

Ultimately, it seeks to empower people to be informed, engaged and active in their communities, democratic processes and society.

Civics education examples

There are many good examples of civics education. Auckland Council have shared several pieces of material including teacher student resources that cover introduction to council, co-governance relationships with Māori, civic participation and elections representation.

You will also find several 'what does your council do' type videos and some interesting teachers guides including a te reo Māori example from Local Government New Zealand.

You can download the civics education examples here    

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Community Enablement and Wellbeing

Community enablement and wellbeing is about creating environments where people can thrive, both individually and collectively. It involves addressing various needs and fostering a sense of belonging and shared responsibility.

Community enablement examples

We have complied together several community enablement examples including a webinar to help support councils as they develop their skills and practice in this area, looking at localism through a community-led lens, along with links to shared tools and resources. Also included is a webinar on how council can position itself as an anchor institution.

You can download the community enablement examples here

Community wellbeing examples

You will find several community wellbeing examples in the below link, including the future for local government report and the Western Bay of Plenty wellbeing plan. Additionally, we have included social wellbeing examples and a cultural wellbeing example.

You can download the community wellbeing examples here

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Community-led Development

Community-led development is a way of working with communities – acknowledging and building on local strengths, fostering collaborative leadership, and creating a shared vision for the future state, while empowering community lead development processes.

Community-led development examples

We have compiled together several community-led development examples including some at the programme level, and others that focus on evaluation.

You can download the community-led development examples here

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Deliberative Democracy

Deliberative democracy is about ensuring the public has the opportunity to participate in decision making and that any decisions reached are done so through fair and reasonable discussion and debate.

"In addition to improving the level of discussion and accounting for the most arguments, more-inclusive deliberative processes are fairer because more people have their views considered. Whether or not a citizen’s view is present in the outcome, it has at least been figured into the debate by fellow citizen deliberators." (Jennifer L Eagan, Deliberative Democracy (2016), In Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/deliberative-democracy, accessed 28 April 2025).

Deliberative democracy engagement examples

At the below link you will find several deliberative democracy engagement examples, including a range of how to guides, and several stories about how deliberative democracy has transformed participants understanding of democracy, and also strengthened local democracy.

You can download the Deliberative Democracy Engagement Examples here

Research and reports on citizen assemblies and jury's examples

The Watercare Citizens' Assembly, Future for Government report and The Southern Initiative provide further examples of deliberative democracy in action, where engagement is paramount in being able to make a real difference, which means also addressing equitablity issues to ensure everyone has the tools to be able to thrive.

You can download these examples, along with several examples from other Counties here

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Effective Engagement with Māori

There are several resources available to support effective, efficient and inclusive approaches to Māori engagement, which reflect the inclusion and consideration of Māori perspectives and cultural values.

There are also several capability building resources available, and resources that are there to help you better understand your council's settlement commitments and Takutai Moana.

You can download more about these examples here

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Engagement Resources

There are several community engagement resources available that have been designed for use across a breadth of communities.

The International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) possibly one of the best-known resources within the sector, provides engagement essentials using the five levels of public participation Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate and Empower.

Additionally, Auckland Council has shared their guide to involving communities in council projects and decisions Engagement Guidelines 2022, Citizenlab have also developed a tool on how to set up a digital engagement project Inclusion in e-democracy, while Beyond sticky notes talk to co-design principles and processes, and provide a "but is it co-design?" test.

Engaging with diverse communities

In addition to the above engagement tools, several tools have been developed for use when working with specific communities, including:

• Engaging with Children and Youth – There are several resources available, including case studies, engagement methods and frameworks, as well as those that are focused on the benefits of the engagement, and project planning tools etc.
• Engaging with the Disability Community from the Ministry of Disabled People
• Ethnicity Matters – A Guide to Working with Ethnic Communities from the Ministry for Ethnic Communities
• Rainbow Communities Engagement Guidelines from Auckland Council
• Yavu – Foundations of Pacific Engagement Tool from the Ministry for Pacific Peoples

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Taituarā Excellence Awards Winners 

Te Tohu Waka Hourua

2022 winner: Ngāti Tūrangitukua and Taupō District Council Partnership
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=397 

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

Digital Local Government

2022 winner: Hastings District Council – Virtual Digital Twin Asset Management
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=404

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

Placemaking

Hastings District Council – It’s Flaxmere’s Time
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=403

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

Organisation and People

2022 winner: Far North District Council – ‘Great Workplaces’
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=405

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

Environmental Leadership

2022 winner: Wairoa District Council 'Toi te whenua, Manaaki ki te whenua'
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=400

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

2021 winner: Eke Panuku Development Auckland
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=297

Collaborative Government

Auckland Wynyard Edge Alliance
https://taituara.org.nz/Story?Action=View&Story_id=406

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

Community Relations, Community Engagement

2022 winner: Te Hiku o te Ika Revitalisation Project
https://taituara.org.nz/2022-Datacom-Award-for-Transforming-Service-Delivery/2022-Minister-of-Local-Government-Award-for-Council-Community-Relations

Information about the other 2022 entries for this award category are available here

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