A toolkit to evaluate engagement

About this toolkit

You have just finished your process of engagement, or have you?

‘Principle 10: Learn and share lessons to improve the process of engagement.‘

It is difficult enough to plan and carry out engagement properly so it is not surprising that not everyone currently puts principle 10, about evaluating and learning, into practice.

This toolkit aims to make evaluating engagement as easy as possible and enable everyone to reflect on their practice and learn and share lessons for the future.

It describes a simple, three step process to help practitioners evaluate their engagement activities using the National Principles for Public Engagement in Wales.

The 10 National Principles for Public Engagement were developed collaboratively between public and voluntary sector agencies, led by WCVA in 2011. They were reviewed and republished through a similar process in 2022.

The National Principles are a good practice guide to enable effective, ethical and meaningful engagement with the public and people that use services. Each principle is written as a straightforward statement and developed by guidance notes. The National Principles are designed for use by professionals and practitioners in a wide range of settings, including but not limited to, government officials, policy makers, public administrators, bodies delivering services and engagement practitioners.

This toolkit includes some prompt questions based around the National Principles for Public Engagement to which you may find useful
(Appendix One).

The toolkit provides essential guidance to carry out an uncomplicated evaluation of your engagement practice. It sits within a suite of refreshed resources, and is complemented by TSSW’s new Evaluation guide. Those who want to learn more about good evaluation practice in general will find information in the guide about numerous aspects of good practice to help plan and carry out an effective evaluation, including; what and when to evaluate, evaluation ethics, carrying out qualitative and quantitative research, key terms and definitions, case studies and signposts to further information.

This toolkit also includes a case study (Appendix Two), of an evaluation of a consultation which took place in Wales in 2024, which illustrates what might be considered a realistic and achievable model for an evaluation of a piece of engagement.

Acknowledgements

This guide was funded by the Welsh Local Government Association and managed by Wales Council for Voluntary Action who commissioned Alain Thomas Consultancy and C.A.R.P. Collaborations to develop it. We are grateful to Swansea City Council and Innes Associates for the use of the case study, and to those individuals who read earlier drafts of the toolkit and offered constructive feedback.