This summer has been a difficult time for Australian governments and communities alike. But while the country chokes on smoke, communities have rallied together and the country has shown its heart. However, trust in political institutions is falling at a time when the government and community should be arm in arm. At a time when governments should be reaching out and engaging with their communities, there have been missed opportunities to demonstrate empathy, build trust, aid recovery and look to the future.

This year’s Global Community Engagement Day theme is about putting the community back in to community engagement. When the country is on fire and people are feeling abandoned, how can leaders engage with and demonstrate that the community is at the heart of everything they do?

Empathy

If you haven’t smelled the smoke, how do you fight the fire? Utilising and demonstrating empathy is central to good community engagement practice. One reason for diminishing trust in political institutions is a widespread feeling that governments “don’t understand us” - or worse, don’t care. But government is part of the community, and it needs to act like it.

Having empathy for the community allows you to step into their shoes, understand the issues and problems that are concerning them, give them an outlet that facilitates them expressing themselves and make decisions based on that participation to improve their lives. In community engagement we learn to meet, speak and, crucially, listen to those we need to engage and build relationships with over time so that we can empathise with them on issues causing concern.

It isn’t enough to feel empathy, you have to demonstrate empathy. Being able to communicate that you empathise with your community, that you are listening and that you understand what they are talking about is essential to building trust.

Trust

In community engagement we know that trust is a key component for collaboration. If our community stakeholders don’t trust us, it’s hard to ensure the quality of participation and that we are reaching the right people. Trust takes time, but it is time well-spent, and doing the work to build trust will always pay off.

In times of crisis such as the current bushfires, leaders need to be on the ground, talking to affected community members, listening and demonstrating that crucial empathy. Building trust means seeking out community members, either face to face or online, learning about them and testing ideas before our engagement processes have even begun. When we carry out engagement projects, we can build more trust by keeping people informed, re-engaging them over time and closing the loop so the community can see it is being brought along on the journey.

Over time, a relationship builds between a government and its community, and people feel more inclined to give their time, share their thoughts and opinions, and participate in projects and events, reassured by the trust they have in the government to listen to them and keep them in the loop. Leaders today are not expected to have all the answers, but through listening to their communities, more informed decisions can be made.

Recovery

In Australia, some bushfire-affected communities are starting to turn their attention to recovery. During this time we’ve seen a huge amount of internal community cohesion. Neighbours support neighbours who have lost everything. Volunteers are putting their hands up in large numbers to help rebuild and donations are outpacing the logistics for distributing them.

In community engagement we understand that in times of recovery support often comes from deep within. The sharing, the pulling together and the resilience of mateship is what helps a community rebuild. Governments can help facilitate these support networks, establishing coordinated recovery groups with the community at their heart. Leaders can attend meetings and seek input, and involve the wider community by keeping conversations going, listening to them and understanding what they need.

During this time of recovery, our governments need to demonstrate they are listening. This is the perfect time to engage the community to discover how financial donations can be best spent, where the money is most needed and what services, infrastructure and support are required.

Future

Over the last three months, governments have, at times, lagged behind in their response to a country in crisis. The speed of change and digital amplification have outpaced government engagement with the community. This is a major problem for governments who want to display empathy and build trust. So what can our governments do to recognise the community and build trust as we look towards a future that will likely hold more ecological crises, diminishing public trust and a need for empathy and recovery?

Tip 1: Get your hands dirty

Leaders need to get their hands dirty to start meaningful conversations with the affected communities. They must listen to their needs and concerns, take control and make the necessary decisions.

One example of a leader taking direct action based on community feedback is NSW Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello, who announced Service NSW’s new Bushfire Customer Care program. Bushfire affected families and businesses can now access all available assistance being offered by councils, and the State and Federal Government through Service NSW, including accommodation, mental health and wellbeing services, clean-up services, financial assistance, insurance and legal support, and replacing lost ID documents. Extended hours for contact centres is a direct response to the community's needs. Dominello summarised the government’s response: “Red tape in our day-to-day world is beyond frustrating. Red tape following a disaster is just cruel.”

Getting your hands dirty is not just about rolling up your sleeves and planting a tree. This is about governments’ need to reconnect with communities and listen to their concerns and grievances before taking collaborative action. This can be done both face to face and online using a range of digital engagement avenues. Using digital engagement allows governments to hold and manage conversations but also to listen, map and understand what’s going on in communities they haven’t been able to reach in person, so that when they do they can build relationships with them in real time.

Tip 2: Think long term

As we have seen, time is crucial in building relationships and public trust. In the case of the current bushfire crisis, time is also needed for recovery, with some suggesting at least five years. To bring the community on the journey, governments can leverage their digital platforms to hold conversations with the community over a long period of time, and sustain that effort.

By committing to long term engagement, taking the community along for the journey and keeping them informed at all times, leaders can win trust and build meaningful relationships with their communities. Using digital engagement here can be key as, thinking long term, digital tools can be used over time for as long as required. Especially with recovery, the use of digital means that while may not need support immediately, over time they can visit your engagement platform and participate as and when they need.

Tip 3: Share stories

What we have experienced in Australia over the last three months is not new. If climate change goes unaddressed, bushfire seasons will get longer and more intense. Communities need to learn from those who are experienced and share techniques to help them face the danger. This is not limited to Australia - similar crises have been felt in places like Canada and California - it should be a global conversation. By sharing stories about bushfires, bushfire prevention and bushfire survival, people can hopefully learn more about how to face the destruction.

Sharing stories also helps build community cohesion, and gives people an opportunity to tell the government who they are, how they live and what is important to them. This is about communities sharing and helping each other and about governments listening, collaborating and then acting on what is needed. Digital engagement allows this storytelling to take place on a wide scale, even global. For governments that want to record and share these stories, the use of digital tools will be extremely beneficial.

Harvest Digital Planning’s mission is to empower government and its citizens to collectively deliver a better future for people and place. Explore our Community Engagement solutions to help you connect, collaborate and engage better with your community, visit our demo site and see the platform in action: demo.the-hive.com.au