Engagement & Co-Design
Engagement and Co-Design
We design and facilitate inclusive processes that bring together residents, municipal leaders, community organizations, Tribal partners, businesses, practitioners, and researchers. Through workshops, community conversations, asset mapping, World Cafés, and collaborative planning, participants explore local challenges, share knowledge, identify community strengths, and develop priorities together.
Our processes can help communities
- Understand how climate and other community challenges are connected.
- Identify the people, places, relationships, and resources the community most wants to protect.
- Include knowledge and perspectives that may be missing from traditional planning processes.
- Develop locally relevant strategies rather than importing one-size-fits-all solutions.
- Build trust, shared ownership, and relationships that support implementation.
- Identify actions that advance several community goals simultaneously.
(Photo By Lance Cheung.)
Why community co-design matters
Plans and projects are more likely to succeed when the people affected by decisions have a meaningful role in shaping them. Community members hold essential knowledge about local conditions, daily experiences, historical inequities, trusted relationships, and the resources that already help their communities function. Co-design moves engagement beyond simply asking people to react to a completed proposal. It gives participants an opportunity to help define the problem, identify what matters, evaluate options, and shape decisions. This can produce stronger solutions while also building the relationships and local capacity communities need to adapt over time.
Co-Design Resources
Explore these practical guides and resources to help your community or organization strengthen engagement and support meaningful community co-design.