Facilitation and Engagement

Wikipedia defines facilitation as “any activity which makes easy the tasks of others.”

In organisational settings, this involves the designing and running of collaborative processes and meetings, often involving members of the community or other stakeholders.

These meetings sometimes involve contentious or ‘sensitive’ issues and our task is to ensure that all points of view are tabled and heard.

We also like Wikipedia’s description of ecological facilitation, which is about how one organism profits from the presence of another. Your organisation can indeed profit by incorporating the Kismet Forward approach to facilitating engagement processes including workshops.

We put a lot of effort into:

• Designing workshops that have high levels of energy, creativity and participation,
• Continually improving a facilitation style that is responsive to the needs of all participants,
• Understanding the environment in which your organisation operates,
• Focussing on solutions and a way forward, rather than dwelling on problems, and
• Ensuring that workshop participants leave with the feeling that their time was productively and enjoyably spent.

Jen has facilitated scores of workshops across many themes, including

• Strategic planning – understanding and gearing up for what the future holds
• Business planning – being specific about what needs to be done in the near future to ensure ongoing success
• Program and project logic – assisting teams to design major programs (or minor projects), starting with the end in mind
• Evaluating projects – identifying what was achieved, and what can be used to improve future projects
• Community engagement – providing real opportunities for community groups and individuals to discuss their hopes, issues and aspirations – and be heard
• Team building – enabling people to work more effectively together in a team setting
• Integration and collaboration – working across organisational boundaries to identify common goals, and opportunities to achieve these together
• Change management – helping people to respond and positively contribute to the changing needs of their organisation, communities and environment

Many of the workshops that we have facilitated have involved the production of a report, which either

• focusses on the workshop and its outcomes, or
• incorporates workshop outcomes as part of a bigger project.

Facilitation projects undertaken by Kismet Forward have ranged from single or small series of workshops to major consultation exercises.
Some of our best known facilitation projects of recent times include:

• 2011-2012 G21 Regional Growth Plan - Kismet Forward has been engaged to undertake the extensive community and stakeholder engagement associated with the development of Victoria's first Regional Growth Plan. (Undertaken in partnership with Firelight Consulting and Jane McQueenie)
• 2011-2012 Statewide Regional Growth Plan Engagement Mentoring - due to the success of the G21 RGP engagement process, DPCD has engaged Kismet Forward and Firelight Consulting to provide engagement advice and caoching to 7 regional growth planning teams across Victoria.
• 2011 Diversitat Community Forum - Jen facilitated an open space session for Geelong's ethnic communities, bringing together more than 20 groups to identify oppportunities to shape initiatives to work with Diversitat to progress their communities.
• 2008-2011 Brooklyn Community Reference Group – Jen chairs the BCRG, which focuses on odour, noise and dust issues emanating from the Brooklyn industrial area, significantly impacting local residents. BCRG comprises community, industry, local government and the EPA. (Jen is sponsored by the EPA to undertake this work).
• 2009-2011 Shaping Victoria Forums - Jen, in partnership with SMS Marketing, has coordinated and facilitated the Shaping Victoria Forums since their inception in 2009. The two-day forums are convened by DPCD and bring together planning professionals from across Victoria and beyond to share knowledge and develop initiatives.
• 2011 Communication Strategy for Indigenous Community Organisation - Jen developed a Communication Strategy to assist an Indigenous community organisation to engage with its staff and stakeholders regarding an emergency health risk at its key office/community centre.
• 2011 Alpine Resorts Collaborative Learning Workshops - Jen facilitated and then evaluated the effectiveness and impact of a series of workshops designed to assist Alpine Resorts Management Boards to better integrate community engagement, Indigenous partnerships and biodiversity management into their planning and operations.
• 2010 Shepparton Community Forum - Jen facilitated a major workshop (using Open Space Technology) for the City of Greater Shepparton to identify opportunities for community members to take a greater role in shaping the future planning and development of their local areas.
• 2010 Biodiversity Forum - Jen facilitated the inaugural Biodiversity Forum, a major initiative for organisational stakeholders and community groups.
• 2010 Contamination Reduction Program - Jen assisted the City of Greater Geelong by moderating focus groups to assess the effectiveness of a program designed to reduce the contamination of recycled household waste.
• 2010 Yanakie Isthmus Adaptive Experimental Management Program - Jen worked with Conservation Enterprises Unlimited to identify local stakeholder perceptions regarding management of the northern section of Wilsons Promontory. Undertaken for Parks Victoria.
• 2009/10 Estuary Entrance Management Support System Consultation Workshops - Jen is facilitating a series of stakeholder workshops within the Corangamite and West Gippsland CMA regions.
• 2009/10 Linking People and Spaces - Jen facilitated two series of five workshops to enable local government representatives to provide input ino the Linking People and Places strategy for Melbourne's open space network. Undertaken for Parks Victoria.
• 2009 Social Recovery Workshops - Jen worked with Dr Rob Gordon to facilitate a series of statewide workshops to assist DSE and other agency staff to understand the recovery processes of communities following a major disaster (such as bushfire).
• 2009 Colac Otway Shire Environment Strategy Community Workshops – Jen facilitated a series of community workshops and 'open houses' to provide input into the Colac Otway Shire's Environment Strategy.
• 2008/2009 Review of Recycled Water Guidelines – Jen facilitated and reported on 3 stakeholder workshops which informed the review of a suite of guidance documents for recycled water. This led to facilitation of 3 reference group meetings to consider stakeholder feedback and provide advice to the project team (undertaken for EPA Victoria)
• 2008 Land and Biodiversity at a Time of Climate Change Green Paper Consultation Workshops - in partnership with Collaborations, Jen facilitated 13 community consultation workshops around Victoria for the Green Paper. The 5-hour workshops involved a total of 643 participants and were conducted over May/June 2008. Jen was asked by Department of Sustainability and Environment to facilitate a number of follow-up workshops for DSE staff and other stakeholders on a range of matters to be included in the White Paper.

Other facilitation tasks have included:

• for the Australian Government’s Land and Coasts Division: forum involving indigenous facilitators of catchment management authorities to identify opportunities to increase indigenous community involvement in National Resources Management activities.
• for Corangamite CMA: forums with Landcare groups regarding the Community Engagement Strategy, the Land & Biodiversity Green Paper and improving communications.
• for Coastal Camping Victoria: initial scoping forum.
• for DIIRD: training session regarding customer focus.
• for DPCD: strategic, business planning and team building forums and meetings for the Planning Policy Division and Regional Policy Unit.
• for DSE: forums regarding Institutional Arrangements, Market-Based Instruments, Integrating Regional Sustainability, program logic workshops for the Local Adaptation Program and Sustainability Accord projects, Good Neighbour Program and Terrestrial Ecoystems Unit, planning workshops for Land and Fire Services, Office of Water and Public Land Policy, Strengthening DSE. Stakeholder workshop regarding the social impacts of climate change.
• for DSE and CFA: forums relating to the Living with Fire Strategy and Health Safety and Well-being (post-fire) debriefs.
• for EPA Victoria: strategic planning and team building forums for a number of work areas; workshops regarding Reuse of water to waterways, the Pollution Response Reform and the Compliance Framework, community meetings regarding the Tullamarine Landfill.

• for Greening Australia Victoria: meeting to progress governance arrangements for the new Habitat141 project.
• for Parks Victoria: forums about Park Trails, 4WD Icon Drives and the Alpine Parks management planning process. Program logic workshops for Ecoysystem Objectives and Fire Objectives (for the Greater Alpine National Park Management Plan). Program logic workshop to develop Conservation Objectives for the West Coast District
• for Sustainability Victoria: forums focussing on team building and the Wastewise Events Program.
• for Victorian Catchment Management Council: forum involving staff from catchment management authorities, DSE and DPI to identify opportunities to increase levels of Indigenous employment in NRM activities.
• for Western Coastal Board: forums regarding Coastal Priorities, Access Guidelines and a proposed Mobile Marine Interpretation Facility.
• for Woady Yallock Landcare Network: strategic planning workshops.

A number of other workshops were undertaken as part of bigger projects.