Community engagement research and learning project: Key findings and recommendations report (May 2024)

Elizabeth Parker, Victoria Maynard and Mhari Gordon

1. Background

1.1 The Community Engagement Research and Learning Project

Action Against Hunger UK Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) department commissioned the Research Team (Elizabeth Parker, Victoria Maynard and Mhari Gordon) to undertake the Community Engagement Research and Learning Project between December 2022 and July 2024. The Research Team have been supported by a Steering Group made up of staff across from across the Action Against Hunger network.

The aim of this research is to improve Action Against Hunger’s approach to the implementation and documentation of community engagement. The project tackles the following research questions:

1. What do we mean by community engagement?

2. What does community engagement look like in practice?

3. What are the barriers to and enablers of community engagement?

4. How can Action Against Hunger improve the implementation and documentation of community engagement?