Council conducts many forms of community engagement. Engaging with the community creates important opportunities for dialogue, which allows council to share in meaningful conversations and understand community views. This helps to:

• identify shared issues and opportunities
• assist with decision making
• create partnerships
• build confidence, relationships, trust and mutual respect between council and our diverse communities.

Through council’s Sunshine Coast Community Strategy 2019-2041, Corporate Plan and Operational Plan, council has committed to adopting an excellence in engagement approach to community engagement. This approach:

• guides our engagement and planning processes
• ensures the delivery of coordinated, consistent and contemporary best practice community engagement.

To advance council’s commitment and aspirations towards excellence in engagement, a renewed Community Engagement Policy and Community Engagement: Excellence in Engagement Framework have been developed.

On 25 March 2021, council adopted a renewed Community Engagement Policy, which outlines council’s commitment to engaging with our region’s diverse communities.

The Policy positions community engagement as a core component of council’s regular business practice. In doing so, the Policy commits council to delivering a best practice approach to community engagement where our community have genuine opportunities to have a say on matters which are important to them and our region.

Council’s renewed approach to community engagement is based on the following principles, where engagement is:

• inclusive
• innovative
• well-planned
• collaborative
• transparent.

By encouraging participation in engagement opportunities, the Policy seeks to support meaningful conversations and outcomes with our diverse communities and stakeholders.

The Community Engagement Policy is supported by the Community Engagement: Excellence in Engagement Framework.

The Framework provides a practical guide for implementing best practice community engagement.

The Framework provides a five stage process to guide the planning and delivery of community engagement activities. The five stages are:

1. Establish the Intent - Deciding to engage
2. Explore the Focus - Determining who to engage with and why
3. Build the Plan - Developing your engagement plan
4. Implement and Monitor - Delivering your engagement
5. Report and Evaluate - Closing the loop and learning from the engagement experience.

Council gives you the opportunity to have your say and stay informed on a range of council activities. Through the engagement process, you can:

• have your say on all current community engagement opportunities
• stay informed on a range of past engagement activities
• follow the progress of a range of council projects
• follow the decisions council makes via its meeting minutes.