Key Principles in Action

This TedTalk titled “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!” highlights the importance of understanding and researching a community before engagement begins. Doing this work will help prioritize what the community will get out of this experience, and can also help avoid failures, mistakes, or unintended harm. Listen while Ernesto Sirolli describes his experience working in Zambia, and think about how you might enact the principles of community engagement to avoid making similar mistakes in your own community engagement work.

This TedTalk titled “Questions change everything in community engagement”, discusses the importance of establishing a relationship and dialogue within the community to understand their needs, as well we regarding community knowledge as an asset. When we enter into a community with preconcieved solutions to problems, it may cause more harm than good. Listen to Max Hardy describe his community engagement experiences, and think about what questions you might ask your community when starting an engagement project.