Strategize your Aboriginal Community Engagement

So you have done your due diligence and completed your research on the community(ies) you want to engage with, and you’ve done an evaluation of the information and have an understanding of the community’s key issues and how they may affect your proposed work. Now it’s time to consider individual and organizational approaches for your community engagement. In other words, the next step is to strategize your Aboriginal Community Engagement.

To assist you, we respectfully recommend that these key issues, from page 149 in the fourth edition of our book Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples® be addressed when strategizing this important component of your Aboriginal Community Engagement.

Strategies for Working Effectively with Indigenous Peoples®

Create a formal in-house Aboriginal Policy:

• Ensure there is a solid understanding of the need for Aboriginal relations
• Dedicate appropriate staff to form a project team
• Provide training for project team members
• Ensure in-house or online Aboriginal awareness training, such as Working Effectively with Indigenous People® is provided for all staff/managers
• Ensure staff and financial resources are available to implement the Policy over the long term
• Ensure there is support in the upper levels of management
• Work with local Aboriginal leaders and communities to further develop the Policy
• Incorporate the Aboriginal Policy into company/organization’s mandate
• Post the Policy on company/organization’s website and other company materials
• Set and post goals and appoint staff to realize goals
• Develop an accountability process
• Develop a system of monitoring progress of goals
• Communicate the policy to all managers and employees
• Communicate progress of policy program throughout organization
  
  

Create a formal Community Relations Policy:

• Work with the local community(ies) to establish a community liaison committee
• Assist community liaison committee with their outreach efforts to reach everyone in the community
• Appoint staff to work with community liaison committee
• Include reports/issues/concerns from liaison committee into company newsletters
  
  

Community Development Policy:

• Work with communities to identify their community development needs
• Work with communities to develop an economic development strategy
• Allocate funding for community infrastructure
• Support and attend, if invited, community events

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