“The best way to engage people is to support them to realise what they already want to do.”
Dr Jessica Symons, Co-Designer of the Ordsall Method
The Ordsall Method is a step by step process on how to:
- Identify community partners for a project
- Develop activities for the project
- Promote participants’ activities as part of project sharing stage
Download the Ordsall Method as a PDF
This is a versatile method for use in projects which require community engagement. It emphasises not just supporting people’s ideas as part of the project activity, but to put individual people’s ideas at the centre of the project design.
The 15 step process is a structured and practical way of working with local residents and organisations, taking inspiration from two years in Ordsall, Salford working with people to develop their own ideas into cultural activities, and building on learning from 50 years of community development and entrepreneurship in North West England.
The Ordsall Method emphasises ‘maximising what is already there’ in a community rather than relying on external parties to decide on the ‘answers’ and trying to impose them on people.
It takes seriously the understanding that people in their communities know what to do to make their lives better, they just need support to do it. They need resources but they also need respect and recognition for what they do every day and how much more they could do if supported properly.
The Ordsall Method 