Policymakers explore how to do participation well
Earlier this year, policymakers from across the West of England came together for the first regional roundtable of the Community Climate & Nature Action Project (CCNA), delivered by the evaluation team at UWE Bristol. The session marked an important step in expanding the CCNA model beyond Bristol and into six new communities across the region.
This new phase of the National Lottery funded project builds on years of work supporting residents to shape local priorities for climate and nature. As the model widens into new geographies and organisational contexts, understanding how local authorities engage with communities – and how policy structures can better enable that engagement – has become essential to continued success. The roundtable was designed to bring policymakers into that process from the outset.
Climate and nature action cannot be effective, or fair, without people being meaningfully involved. To support a shared starting point, UWE Bristol introduced ten evidence informed themes that describe what good participation and governance tend to require in practice, and where the risks and tensions often sit.
Across the room, policymakers reflected on familiar pressures: stretched capacity, shifting responsibilities, increasingly complex community needs, and uneven engagement landscapes. Alongside those challenges, they also recognised existing strengths across the region – longstanding relationships with community organisations, committed teams working under pressure, and pockets of innovative engagement that could be built upon.
Through mapping exercises and group discussion, the room worked together to build a baseline picture of how councils currently engage communities, which views are heard, and which are missing. Seeing the region as a whole helped spark new conversations about alignment, shared challenges, and opportunities for collaboration as the project develops.
The session closed with a discussion about how insights from communities can more meaningfully shape strategy and decision-making. Policymakers explored what structures support ongoing participation, what long-term relationships require in practice, and where governance processes could shift to make community perspectives more central rather than peripheral. These questions – about power, capacity, and responsibility – sit at the heart of the Community Climate & Nature Action Project. As the project continues, the UWE evaluation team will be working closely with communities and policymakers to build a shared evidence base and shape recommendations to support fairer and more inclusive climate and nature action.
Ten principles for effective, fair and sustainable participation
- Good collaboration needs time, trust, and ongoing learning – Where are councils currently putting their time and energy, and how do they maintain strong relationships with communities?
- Participation only works when people have real influence – Where do councils genuinely share decision making power, and where are the sticking points?
- Sharing responsibility makes the whole system stronger – How can responsibility and resources be shared between councils, charities, local institutions, and community groups?
- Rules matter, but so does guidance and support – When do councils rely on formal rules, and when do they use softer tools like advice, missions, or frameworks?
- Some organisations act as vital intermediary “bridge builders” – Who currently helps connect councils, communities, and local organisations?
- Shared missions help everyone pull in the same direction – What would a shared regional goal look like across councils and the Combined Authority?
- Learning from other places is useful, but local realities should be accounted for – Which networks do councils take part in, and how do they adapt good ideas to local needs?
- Inclusive and deliberative conversations build trust in decisions – What kinds of public conversations, panels, or creative engagement methods do councils use to involve people?
- Success should be defined together, and revisited over time – Do current measures capture learning, trust and capacity building, and how often are these reviewed?
- Feedback and accountability are essential for trust and learning – How do councils demonstrate that community input has shaped decisions, and where are feedback loops missing or unclear for residents.
For more detailed insights from the roundtable, download the report.
The next policy roundtable will be held in November 2026, if you are working on regional or national climate and nature policy or strategy and are interested in participating, do get in touch.
Find out more about the Community Climate & Nature Action Project
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