What factors in your local context could make or break your engagement process?

Understanding the context in which an engagement process takes place is just as important as defining its goals. Context includes available resources - such as time, budget, and skills - as well as political, cultural, historical, legal, and demographic factors. These conditions can create both constraints and opportunities, and many are not fixed; some may even be influenced or changed through the participatory process itself.

This resource provides a set of guiding questions to support you in understanding your local context and designing more effective citizen engagement processes. Not every question will be relevant in every situation; rather, they are intended to be used selectively, as appropriate to your specific context. Use these questions to reflect on feasibility, uncover hidden constraints and opportunities, and adapt your engagement process to local realities before key design decisions are made.