3.1 Community Engagement:
Community engagement is a purposeful process undertaken by the Durham District School Board to inform, consult, involve, or collaborate with students, families/caregivers, and staff in relation to decisions, initiatives, or matters under consideration.
Where appropriate, engagement may also include individuals or groups who are directly impacted by, or who have a reasonable connection to, a decision, initiative or direction.
3.2 Community of Interest:
A Community of Interest refers to individuals, groups, or communities who are directly impacted by, or have a reasonable connection to, a decision or initiative of the Board within its mandate.
This primarily includes students, families/caregivers, and staff, and may also include Indigenous rights holders, partners, and, where appropriate, members of the broader public, depending on the nature of the matter.
Engagement with Indigenous rights holders is distinct and may require approaches that differ from general community engagement, in recognition of Indigenous rights and the Board’s commitment to reconciliation.
3.3 Continuum of Engagement:
The continuum of engagement describes the range of approaches the Board may use to support community participation, including inform, consult, involve, and collaborate. These approaches exist along a continuum rather than as a hierarchy and may be used individually or in combination, depending on the purpose and nature of the matter under consideration.
Inform – Provide clear, accessible, and timely information to support understanding of an issue, initiative, decision, or outcome. This may include sharing background information, updates, timelines, or decisions through methods such as website content, newsletters, reports, presentations, or public notices.
Consult – Seek feedback on a defined issue, proposal, or option before a decision is made. This may include structured opportunities for input such as surveys, feedback forms, public submissions, meetings, or engagement sessions.
Involve – Engage participants in exploring issues, options, or approaches so that community perspectives are more directly considered in the matter under consideration. This may include workshops, focus groups, facilitated discussions, or other interactive engagement activities.
Collaborate – Work with participants in aspects of exploring options or developing approaches where shared dialogue, relationship-building, and ongoing engagement are appropriate. This may include advisory discussions, working groups, co-development activities, or other collaborative processes.
The examples above are illustrative and are intended to support understanding of the continuum of engagement. Engagement approaches and methods may vary depending on the purpose, scope, communities of interest, available resources, legal or operational considerations, and the extent to which input can meaningfully inform the matter under consideration.
Additional guidance is provided in Appendix A and related procedures.
3.4 Feedback Loop
The feedback loop is the process of communicating back to participants about what the engagement revealed, how input was considered, and, where applicable, how it informed decisions, outcomes, next steps, or changes to the matter under consideration, in a manner appropriate to the engagement undertaken.
