Case Study
Bringing multiple, disparate stakeholders together to discuss their differing perspectives towards a project is a powerful way to start building a collective vision for the future.
Bringing multiple, disparate stakeholders together to discuss their differing perspectives towards a project is a powerful way to start building a collective vision for the future.
This is exactly what Keystone achieved for Love Wisbech, the community programme designed to deliver positive change for the Cambridgeshire town and the people that live there.
Over two, half day virtual workshops, representatives from the county, town and district councils and from local charities, shared ideas, concerns and aspirations about Wisbech, building on discussions and feedback from resident focus groups held back in 2019. Facilitated by Keystone, as independent experts in community engagement, the workshop approach broke down the inevitable workplace silos, helped create a team
mentality, and provided a structured framework for the conversations.
Time and opportunity for focused engagement
With the ultimate aim of building a community engagement framework, these initial workshops were invaluable for creating a proactive team mentality and for drawing out any potential barriers to the success of the project. The whole team energetically shared ideas about how they could improve life for residents, workers and encourage more tourism to the area. Every person present shared pertinent insights and offered
multiple opportunities for where the programme could make tangible differences to the town.
Our subsequent, post-workshop activity involved careful consideration and analysis of the observations taken from within the workshops. These insights informed the production of a detailed recommendations report for the I love Wisbech executive. The leaders are now perfectly positioned to move to phase 2 of the programme where Keystone will support the relaunch of the programme along with establishing guidelines for future community engagement and outline a best practice framework for future communications.
Keystone involvement with Love Wisbech was funded by Support Cambridgeshire; a three-year project funded by Cambridgeshire County Council that brings partner organisations together who work to support community groups and organisations across the County.
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The Keystone impact
- Facilitated 2 x half day workshops that elicited structured conversations
between disparate stakeholder groups - Indepth analysis of resulting insights about the project, including any barriers
to success, challenges and additional opportunities - Built a collective vision and a team mentality across all stakeholder groups
- Delivered an informed, detailed list of recommendations for the Council to
consider - Clear vision of what is needed to ensure successful engagement throughout the project and into the future.
“The Keystone-led workshops allowed the time and opportunity for focused engagement in a safe space. It was an invaluable opportunity to bring together multiple stakeholders and forge a path toward us all speaking with one clear voice. Keystone’s dynamic, independent facilitation showed that they could professionally pivot the focus at any time to keep everyone engaged yet focused on the task at hand. We are already benefiting from a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead.
Keystone’s previous experience of Council and community frameworks was apparent in the team’s subsequent presentation of best practice engagement. This will help us develop key assets and approaches to this important community programme.”
Keystone can help you build an elevated sense of community with your audiences. We develop communications excellence that truly engages, builds loyalty and strengthens connections.
