A Quality of Life: Code of Practice
A code of practice for effective community consultation and engagement in development, planning and design.
Introducing the Code of Practice
Community consultation and engagement are important parts of the development planning process. But current consultation and engagement practices vary wildly and there is no guarantee that communities will be engaged in ways that are inclusive, effective and leave them feeling empowered.
The Quality of Life Code of Practice for effective community consultation and engagement in development, planning and design aims to address this. The Code of Practice was part-funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Based on UK-wide research funded by the UKRI Arts and Humanities Research Council, with input from industry professionals, local and national government, the code of practice outlines what ‘good’ and ‘excellent’ practice looks like, and provides a way for you to assess your work, with the intention to work towards accreditation.
Every project and team that measures up well against this Code of Practice will have developed a good understanding of the distinct needs and wants of the place and its communities.
By implementing the approach set out in the Code of Practice, you will be empowered to bring about positive change that’s tailored to meet the needs of local people. Ultimately, this will lead to better sustainable development and improved community wellbeing and resilience.
8 principles of the Code of Practice
Get involved with the Code of Practice
There are different ways for you to get involved and adopt the Quality of Life Code of Practice. You can:
- Sign up to commit to the principles and standards of the Code of Practice
- Carry out a free self-assessment of either your project or your organisation
- Enlist us to help improve your practice, through our training and support packages.
Code of Practice self assessment
Place making and place shaping is an ongoing learning journey, and so is developing effective, inclusive community consultation and engagement.
Our free self-assessment is designed to help you evaluate your place based engagement or consultation project and/or strategy by looking at what’s good, excellent and missing.
It will also help you with a structure to reflect on good practice in your context, work towards excellent practice, and share good and excellent practice with others.
Good practice case studies
Get inspiration for your next project by exploring this selection of good practice case studies from practitioners working in a range of contexts across the built environment.
Community Consultation for Quality of Life
The Code of Practice is based on the findings of the UK-wide Community Consultation for Quality of Life research project, which was headed up by Professor Flora Samuel.
A collaboration with the universities of Reading, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Ulster, the research was the largest study of its kind into consultation and engagement practices in the UK. The project gathered insights from urban areas and its national reports revealed inconsistencies and inadequacies in current practices.
Research findings
The research used innovative methods including urban rooms, digital mapping, focus groups, and community outreach. The team engaged with diverse communities in Reading, Edinburgh, Cardiff, and Belfast, tailoring their approach to each locality.
Findings from each place were compared with planning policies, highlighting significant disparities between national guidelines and on-the-ground experiences.
In England, 67% of research respondents had never been part of a consultation process, primarily because they had not been asked (60%). Similar figures were observed in Wales (61%) and Scotland (60%), where respondents felt largely ignored.
Northern Ireland exhibited a unique set of challenges, with 80% of respondents never participating in planning consultation due to a legacy of mistrust and consultation fatigue among established neighbourhood groups.