Stage 1 - Community Consultation

Why is this stage important? 

Community consultation is the foundation of effective, place-based programs. This stage focuses on understanding local context, priorities, strengths and aspirations before any program design begins. These resources support genuine engagement with communities to ensure programs are locally feasible and fully supported by a community before they begin.  

Who is this stage for?

This section is a starting point for Hub teams and partners looking to run a new community-led widening participation (WP) program. Even if you have delivered WP programs before, these resources are valuable when starting a new project, entering a new community, or refreshing an existing program to ensure community voices are centred from the outset. These concepts can also be applied to non-WP initiatives, although the following resources are targeted for WP.  

Our network uses the Appreciative Inquiry Model to conduct community consultation, which uses a strengths-based approach to bring solutions to the fore. This is just one way to consult with your community!  

Navigating Stage 1

There are four pages under Stage 1. You can access them via the buttons below, or by hovering over Stage 1 across the top navigation tabs. The pages have been designed to provide progressive resources, as if you are starting from scratch on your community consultation journey. 

Please feel free to skip sections or adapt resources to your context.