Community Engagement | Freire Institute

Paulo Freire’s philosophy of education has had a profound impact on people throughout the world working for social change. His work has been applied not only to formal educational settings but to many diverse social movements.

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Price: GBP 250.00

Community Engagement

Mobilizing communities for change

Transform your community engagement strategies through in-depth training and actionable insights

Community engagement is now expected across much of the public and voluntary sectors, yet the term can describe very different relationships between institutions and communities. Engagement may involve informing people about decisions already taken, consulting them about predetermined options, inviting participation in service design, or creating opportunities for communities to define issues, generate knowledge, and act collectively. The difference between these approaches is not simply methodological: it concerns questions of power, knowledge, participation, and agency . Drawing upon Paulo Freire’s philosophy and pedagogy, this participatory workshop invites public sector professionals...

What would community engagement look like if communities were not simply consulted about institutional priorities, but participated in naming problems, producing knowledge, imagining possibilities and shaping action?

The workshop begins with people’s lived experience and the knowledge already present within communities. Participants will examine ways of identifying generative themes, recognising community assets, and investigating issues collaboratively rather than beginning with institutional definitions of need. They will then explore methods for problematising community knowledge: looking beyond surface descriptions to identify patterns, relationships, contradictions, and underlying structures. The later sessions focus upon possibilities for change. Participants consider how community knowledge can inform collective vision-building, goal setting, and action, while recognising the practical and...

What you learn

Analyse approaches to community engagement in terms of participation, knowledge, power and decision-making, including how institutional and professional assumptions shape understandings of communities, needs and possible solutions.
Apply and compare participatory approaches for identifying community experiences, assets, priorities and generative themes, considering their underlying assumptions, strengths, limitations and ethical implications.
Analyse community issues through processes of problematization, thematic investigation and collective interpretation, identifying patterns, assumptions, relationships of power and structural influences.
Develop and justify a contextually grounded approach to community engagement that supports meaningful participation, shared decision-making and collective action, and incorporates reflection, evaluation and continued dialogue with communities.

Availability

For organizations: This workshop is available in virtual, in-person, or hybrid formats to meet diverse organizational needs and preferences. We can tailor the focus to your specific institutional context.
For individuals: We will run occasional virtual workshops, and you are encouraged to join the notification list to be informed of upcoming dates.

Registration Options

Current ways to join this course

Email Signup

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Registration Options

Custom workshops for organizations

Duration

You will continue to be registered in the course area for 3 months following the workshop.

Course Certificate

You will receive a certificate upon successful completion of the course.

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