Community Engagement for Cooperative Extension: Inform and Consult from the Spectrum of Public Participation

Abstract

Community engagement addresses the core concerns of residents and stakeholders by engaging them in a process of initiating, drafting, and implementing community-based programs. Community engagement guides collaboration and communication among organizations, stakeholders, and the public to create sustainable community-driven change. The International Association for Public Participation has developed a spectrum of public participation with five different levels that indicate the various depths of community engagement. The levels include Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate, and Community Directs. This publication will review the Inform and Consult levels of the spectrum.