What I'm On About

As well as my consulting work, I am a PhD candidate researching in the area of community engagement in rural and regional Australia.  Community engagement is a new term for something that has been around for many decades - public participation. A few years ago I worked as Community and Stakeholder Engagement Manager for a major infrastructure project. The experience left me believing that something was wrong with the process. Community engagement is legislated and regulated throughout Australia and is now undertaken by local government, government departments, health and education services and academic researchers. The 'community' is also being 'engaged' by mining and engineering companies throughout rural and regional Australia - or so they believe. So everyone is being 'engaged' more that ever, but people seem angrier and more disengaged than in the past. Is this the fault of the process, the agendas of the governments and corporates or does the media also play a role. These are some of the questions I am asking.