Engaging for a better future

In 2019, a journey to develop an adaptive management plan for Dunedin city's most popular beach, St Clair to St Kilda began. Tackling one of the biggest challenges of our time - climate change and coastal adaptation, it was recognised early that building resilience and clarity for coastal communities was not solely a technical matter, but one the community needed to be deeply involved in so we can face upcoming challenges together. Through genuine, inclusive and innovative community engagement techniques, the community was put at the heart of Dunedin City Council's adaptation journey. The project has been recognised for its comprehensive innovative approach to engagement. In 2021, the coastal plan won the Australasian IAP2 Core Values Project of the Year and the IAP2 Planning Category Award. In 2022, it won the New Zealand Planning Institute (NZPI) Nancy Northcroft Supreme Planning Award and the NZPI Best Practice Award-Consultation and Participation Strategies and/or Processes.

Using this project as a case study we will explore the community-oriented approach to the adaptation plan development process and how this approach can establish a culture of co-stewardship, trust, enhanced risk awareness, moving towards shared leadership and action through IAP2's (International Association of Public Participation) framework. The St Clair-St Kilda engagement process was inclusive, iterative and used innovative engagement methods. While, the journey has not been easy, the process demonstrates what can be achieved when we engage authentically and effectively with our communities by using a range of methods to 'go to the people' and iterate to continually improve our engagement. When we work with our communities we build trust, relationships for better outcomes together.