Gain a Certificate in Contemporary Community Engagement

Join our popular 6-week Community Engagement BOOTCAMP today

Our Community Engagement BOOTCAMP is designed for anyone who wants to GET AHEAD in best practice community engagement, brush up on their KNOWLEDGE, freshen their THINKING, or reinvigorate their PASSION!

Whether you’re a -

  • budding community engagement specialist,

  • a project manager for a local council,

  • a policy maker for government,

  • a City Manager,

  • an elected official,

  • a consultant,

  • or anything in between

… if you need to involve people in decision making as part of your work, gaining a Certificate in Contemporary Community Engagement by attending Community Engagement BOOTCAMP is for YOU!

The 6 sessions, held over 6 consecutive weeks, are live, interactive and packed with theory, stories, reflection and more!

Currently open for registration

6 modules

  • Know the differences between the wheel, the ladder, the triangle and the various continuums? And how about the Circle of Public-Initiated Participation? During this first session we’ll go through the popular community engagement models. By the end of the session you’ll be able to walk the talk and impress the boss by applying some overarching theory to your practice!

    • Defining community engagement

    • Who is "community"

    • Types of community

    • Models of community engagement

    • Principles & values of engagement

  • In this session, we will delve into the who's who of good community engagement. We'll look at a range of scenarios and you'll learn a few different methods for identifying who needs to be involved in your project. This session will also introduce the PICNIC model of people identification, mapping and analysis.

    • Generalisations of public

    • Benefits of delving into who

    • Tools for mapping and analysis

    • The PICNIC Model™

    • Character creation

  • This session will be jam packed with practical ideas to successfully deliver high quality written, face-to-face and online community engagement. Becky will share her favourite tools and techniques for engaging people in rich dialogue and her love of using a hybrid of methodology to reach the right people.

    • The lost art of storytelling

    • The Have your Say Global Pandemic

    • Dialogue & deliberation

    • Tools & Techniques

    • Hybrid community engagement

  • Often overlooked in community engagement, this session will focus on how we communicate during our community engagement processes. From the start to the end of any process, it's critical that our communications are high quality. Or you'll be met with silence from your community!

    • The need for high quality comms

    • Strategies for checking language

    • Plain English

    • Dilemmas & negotiables

    • The good, the bad & the ugly

  • Continually hearing from the same people with the same opinions? Got the same demographic attending all of your community meetings? One of the most common frustrations in the world of community engagement is not being able to engage with communities beyond the vocal minority. In this session you'll learn some tips, tricks and techniques to engage beyond the usual suspects, as well as how to reach those who are often described as hard-to-reach.

    • Vocal minority versus silent majority

    • Why do we hear from the same people

    • Go where the people are

    • Representative democracy

    • Preparing for differences

  • We're going to get super practical in this final session with thinking about how we can set up our community engagement initiatives to be warm and welcoming, which result in people being supported to contribute their best! From positioning engagement to be seen and heard through to avoiding the furniture graveyards, this session will leave you itching to set up your next engagement session!

    • Position engagement to be seen & heard

    • Face-to-face welcoming environments

    • Online welcoming environments

    • Tips to really show you're listening

    • Bootcamp reflection

Certificate in Contemporary Community Engagement

Learn direct from an
experienced practitioner

Contemporary, practical and progressive practice

Network and learn from peers

Affordable professional development

Participate online, from
your place of choice

Frequently asked questions

  • Our group BOOTCAMP sessions are held live via a weekly Zoom call for 6 consecutive weeks. Whilst cameras don’t have to be on all of the time, the sessions will be interactive.

    In other words, this isn't a webinar - it's a come-along-for-the-ride workshop format, with a combination of teaching from the presenter, group discussions and the occasional homework task!

    From time to time we also offer in-person Bootcamps in cities around the world.

  • This bootcamp is ideal for anyone looking to get ahead in best practice community engagement, brush up on their knowledge, freshen their thinking, or reinvigorate their passion!

    Whether you’re a budding community engagement specialist, a project manager for a local council, a policy maker for government, a City Manager, an elected official, a consultant, or anything in between, if you need to involve people in decision making as part of your work, this is for YOU!

    The diversity of campers in our BOOTCAMPS is one of our key features.

    You’ll get to connect from people with a range of experiences across a wealth of sectors, and different countries. This contributes towards a really rich learning experience.

  • Your trainer is based in South Australia and BOOTCAMPS usually start at 8.30am in the ACDT or ACST. The live session timing generally works well for campers from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.

    From time to time we offer live sessions held during the evening in the trainers timezone, making it ideal for people based in the UK, Europe, Africa and Asia.

  • Of course! We totally understand that all the superhero wow-pows aren’t ideal for formal approval processes.

    You can download the formal Community Engagement BOOTCAMP prospectus here (PDF 1.5MB).

  • Yes.

    Absolutely! Upon completion of the course you gain an Academy Communitas Certificate in Contemporary Community Engagement Practice.

    This certificate is emailed to you at the end of the BOOTCAMP.

    If you weren’t able to attend all sessions the certificate will list the sessions you participated in.

    Make sure you update your resume with it and add your achievement to your LinkedIn profile!

  • Registrations are via Humanitix. You will have the option to pay by invoice or credit card. After you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link and calendar invitations for all sessions (if attending an online camp).

  • Given the participatory style of the sessions, recordings will not be available. However, all participants receive a copy of the slides used and topics discussed.

  • No. The term ‘BOOTCAMP’ is defined as a short, intensive, and rigorous course of training.

    There’ll be no actual pitching of tents… though never say never!

  • From an administrative perspective, it’s much easier for all of us if you pay with a credit card at the time of booking.

    But if your organisation needs an invoice to make a bank transfer, this can be requested during the enrolment process on Humanitix. There is a small extra fee charged for this administration process, added to the ticket price.

  • Refunds are available up to 14 days prior to the start date of your BOOTCAMP.

    After this, we are unable to issue refunds. Please don’t make things awkward by asking for one.

  • Each BOOTCAMP has a small number of participants to ensure your personal learning journey is maximised. Places on BOOTCAMPS are therefore generally in high demand.

  • The Community Engagement BOOTCAMPS are delivered by community engagement expert extraordinaire, Becky Hirst.

    Becky is the author of For the Love of Community Engagement, a reflective memoir that calls for a rethink about how government connects with communities to inform their decision-making.

    Through her work over the last 25 years, Becky has worked with hundreds of government clients, helping them to engage with the people they serve. She estimates that during this time she has engaged with over 50,000 people in conversations about things that matter!

    Someone recently referred to Becky’s community engagement work as fingerpainting. But there’s absolutely nothing childish, soft or fluffy about what she does. Becky possesses the HARD skills that many political and business leaders find challenging: compassion, authenticity, the ability to genuinely listen and putting the needs of people first.

  • Your whole team is welcome to attend. However, we ask that only 4-5 people from one organisation book on to any one Community Engagement BOOTCAMP.

    However, Community Engagement BOOTCAMPS are available for in-house delivery exclusively for your organisation. So drop us a line and let’s make it happen!

What people say about Community Engagement BOOTCAMP

"Community Engagement BOOTCAMP is by far the most relevant, realistic and enjoyable professional development I've ever undertaken!"

“You helped give me the confidence to do the kind of consultation I want to be doing. The kind that I know I will thrive at doing." 

"It has given me a lot of insight to assist in engaging, and hope that these useful tools will make the community a better place to be."

“One of MANY ah-ha moments was the real importance of putting value on the lived experience.”

In-house Community Engagement BOOTCAMPS delivered to…

Contact us to find out more about having an in-house Community Engagement BOOTCAMP delivered for your organisation - don’t get left behind!