Community engagement

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This article is about non-governmental community benefit efforts. For governmental community benefit efforts, see Public engagement.
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See also

Community engagement is involvement and participation in an organization for the welfare of the community, and is thus a form of civic engagement.

Defining characteristics

humanitarian NGOs or religious groups, are forms of community involvement.[1] The engagement is generally motivated by values and ideals of social justice.[2] Community engagement can be volunteering at food banks, homeless shelters, emergency assistance programs, neighborhood cleanup programs, etc.[3][4][5]

It is also defined as "a dynamic relational process that facilitates communication, interaction, involvement, and exchange between an organization and a community for a range of social and organizational outcomes".[6] As a concept, engagement features attributes of connection, interaction, participation, and involvement, designed to achieve or elicit an outcome at individual, organization, or social levels.[7] Current research acknowledges engagement's socially-situated nature. Community engagement, therefore, offers an ethical, reflexive, and socially responsive approach to community-organizational relationships with engagement practices that aim to both understand and be responsive to community needs, views, and expectations.[8][9] For academic research to have an impact, community engagement is essential, especially for the research around population health and wellness issues.[10][11] It is imperative that the researchers employ community-engaged approaches where community members[12] and organizations[13] and researchers work hand-in-hand to identify the problems, co-develop solutions, and recommend policy changes.

Community engagement is a community-centered orientation based in dialogue.[14] Community engagement enables a more contextualized understanding of community members' perceptions of the topics and contexts, and facilitates stronger relationships among and between community members.[15][16] The outcome of community engagement is ultimately social capital and stronger relational networks.[17] While community organizing involves the process of building a grassroots movement involving communities, community engagement primarily deals with the practice of moving communities toward change, usually from a stalled or similarly suspended position.

See also

References

  1. ^ Marie Weil, Michael S. Reisch, Mary L. Ohmer, The Handbook of Community Practice, SAGE Publications, USA, 2012, p. 169
  2. ^ Nichole Georgeou, Neoliberalism, Development, and Aid Volunteering, Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, 2012, p. 103-105
  3. ^ Cathryn Crosby, Frederick Brockmeier, Student Experiences and Educational Outcomes in Community Engagement for the 21st Century, IGI Global, USA, 2016, p. 45
  4. ^ Paul A. Gaist, Igniting the Power of Community: The Role of CBOs and NGOs in Global Public Health, Springer, USA, 2009, p. 239
  5. ^ Yves Beigbeder, The Role and Statuts of International Humanitarian Volunteers and Organizations: The Right and Duty to Humanitarian Assistance, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Belgium, 1991, p. 83
  6. ^ Johnston, K. A. (2018). Toward a theory of social engagement. In K. A. Johnston & M. Taylor (Eds.), The Handbook of Communication Engagement (pp. 19-32). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
  7. S2CID 167693206
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  8. ^ Johnston, K. A. (2018). Engagement. In R. L. Heath (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Strategic Communication: Wiley
  9. PMID 31829223
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  10. PMID 34426405
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  11. PMID 36750272
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  12. PMID 34969687
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  13. PMID 35332054
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  14. S2CID 143995731
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  15. ^ Johnston, K. A., & Lane, A. (2018). Building relational capital: The contribution of episodic and relational community engagement. Public Relation Review. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.10.006
  16. ISSN 2059-7908
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  17. ^ Johnston, K. A., & Lane, A. (2018). Building relational capital: The contribution of episodic and relational community engagement. Public Relation Review. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2018.10.006
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