Engagement - Mendleson

We deliver engagement projects at all levels of the IAP2 Spectrum, including collaborative and deliberative projects. We have experience in a wide range of engagement methods, including broad ranging, multi-method programs that run over several years.

We can run complete projects from developing the engagement strategy, through to implementation and evaluation or you can bring us in to run any part of the process, e.g. helping run some of the methods, facilitating internal/external consultations, analysing the data analysis, evaluating the results, and developing the reports.

We regularly work with sensitive and controversial issues. Our constructive approach brings all parties together in a meaningful way.

Colac Otway Shire

Community Vision and Council plans

In 2020/21, Nicola Mendleson and Desley Renton partnered with the Colac Otway team to deliver an engagement process to inform the Community Vision 2040, Council Plan, Municipal Health and Wellbeing Plan, Asset Plan, and Financial Plan.
The Council team was keen to increase their skills and maximise the limited budget so this project was very much a partnership approach.

The Consultant Team:
– Led the development of the engagement plan.
– Recruited and facilitated the deliberative process.
– Guided the project implementation which was shared between the in-house team and the consultants.
– Facilitated workshops with Councillors to ensure the process met their objectives.

The program started with broad engagement across the shire via pop-ups, surveys and key stakeholder workshops. This feedback informed the deliberative process that developed the draft Community Vision and explored key issues.

Colac Otway Shire is very diverse. Panel members deeply considered the needs of different people and sectors, e.g. rural vs urban, tourism/business/agriculture as well as the constraints facing Council to develop practical solutions to achieving their community’s aspirations.

City of Boroondara

Redevelopment of the Kew Recreation Centre

Mendleson delivered a comprehensive program to engage with the local community around the redevelopment of Kew recreation centre, Council’s largest-ever infrastructure project.

The program had two phases:
Phase 1 engaged community and key stakeholders around what was important to them in the new centre and tested draft key principles to guide the development process. This informed the brief for the architect.
A year later, Council sought feedback on the draft concept designs.

Engagement methods included surveys, kiosks, pop-ups and drop-in sessions at the Centre and key community centres, interviews and workshops with key stakeholders and staff, and meetings with Council advisory groups.

Over 3,000 people provided feedback into the engagement process which provided many clear recommendations to inform the redevelopment process.

Redevelopment of the Kew Recreation Centre

Victorian Department of Education

Launch of Auburn High School

In December 2013, Hawksburn Secondary College was closed due to low student numbers. In January 2014, Auburn High School opened on the site. Mendleson developed and implemented the engagement and communications strategy, aiming to build local community support and student numbers fast.

The program included:
engaging with the school community, key feeder schools, primary school parents, key stakeholders such as local MPs, media and Council via a range of engagement methods.
contracting a branding company to develop a new look and feel for a new logo and communications materials, and a social media specialist to develop and implement a social media strategy.

Mendleson partnered with the school for five years to build awareness, oversee internal and external engagement and mentor the internal team to take over. The new school launched with 30% increased enrolments and numbers built each year by over 25%.

Melbourne Water

Small Business Guidelines

We worked with the Melbourne Water Community Engagement team to review engagement and construction processes with the aim of reducing the impact of long term construction projects on local small businesses. This project included benchmarking research, reviewing current processes, and developing guidelines for engagement and project staff that have been implemented across the organisation and have attracted favourable comment from the Victorian Small Business Minister.

BHP Billiton

Analysis of Internal Communications and Engagement

Analysis of internal communications and engagement
Mendleson worked with BHP Billiton in from 2016-2020 to audit internal communications across this global group to evaluate where internal communications and engagement could be improved. This has provided benchmarks, an evaluation framework, insights and strategies that are being used to improve internal engagement across the company. Performance increased each year across the group.

DEECA

Analysis Of Public Consultations

Mendleson analysed the feedback received from the public consultations into the 2015 Review of the Victorian Climate Change Act and the 2017 Review of Retail Gas and Electricity markets.

Both these projects involved rapid analysis of the many submissions and developing a summary report of key themes, content and quantitative analysis to aid the Independent Review Panels. Many of the submissions were complex and technical and these were large projects completed under tight time pressures. We received very positive feedback from both panels.