Community hubs, along with neighborhood portals, are central spaces that foster collaboration to help boost public participation. They provide access to resources, services, and programs that are tailored to community needs, while neighborhood portals offer online areas for residents to engage, share information, and stay connected with local events, initiatives, and projects.
Explore how Alpine Shire Council is keeping residents informed, discover the City of Melbourne’s place-based approach for connecting with residents, check out how Melbourne Water is sharing ideas to improve the livability of surrounding neighborhoods, plus much more!
Remaining Inclusive and Keeping Residents Informed
Alpine Shire Council aims to keep its community members informed about news, information, and opportunities related to interests such as businesses, libraries, youth, and more. Therefore, the Council created a community hub on their Engage Alpine site to help achieve this.
Using the Feature Grid cards, Alpine allows residents to choose from six community hubs based on their interests. For example, the Council’s Animal Hub keeps residents updated on lost and found pets collected by the Local Laws team and provides information on animals available for adoption and fostering. Meanwhile, the Seniors Hub offers seniors a place to discover activities, events, and opportunities happening in the Shire. Well done, Alpine Shire Council, for staying inclusive with your community initiatives!
View Alpine Shire Council’s Inclusive Community Hubs
Placed-Based Approach to Connect with Residents
The City of Melbourne’s neighborhood portals are a leading initiative of a place-based approach designed to help the Council connect with, understand, and respond to unique communities across the municipality. The model will ensure a continuous cycle of community engagement, where local knowledge and priorities are translated into action, investment, and advocacy.
Currently, the City offers 10 neighborhood portals, allowing community members to choose based on where they live, work, study, or play in Melbourne’s neighborhoods. Each portal features illustrative imagery, a newsfeed to keep residents informed, sub-tabs for events, and stories, and has also utilized the Gather tool to showcase local activities in the area. Kudos to the City for better understanding the individual needs and ideas of people across Melbourne through a place-based approach!
Explore the City of Melbourne’s Neighborhood Portals
Improving the Livability of Surrounding Neighborhoods
Melbourne Water is another excellent example of creating community hubs to collaborate more closely with residents and improve livability in Melbourne’s surrounding suburbs. These hubs allow residents to share ideas and stay informed about Melbourne Water’s projects, plans, and initiatives.
From birdwatching to treatment plants, Melbourne Water has established seven dedicated hubs on its ‘Let’s Talk | Melbourne Water’ engagement site. Each hub covers topics relevant to the area’s work and utilizes various engagement tools such as the Social Map, Visioner, Fact Cards, Quick Poll, and Hotspot to encourage resident feedback. Well done, Melbourne Water, for showcasing versatility in engaging with community members online.
Discover Melbourne Water’s Community Hubs
Listing Specific Projects for Each Neighborhood
The City of Adelaide (one of our newest switch clients) is another excellent example of implementing neighborhood portals. On its homepage, it showcases five communities – North Adelaide, City South East, City South West, East End, and West End. Each portal enables residents to discover the latest projects in their area and get involved. This initiative fosters greater community engagement and informs residents about local developments.
Using the Project Map tool on each neighborhood portal page, the City can pinpoint the precise locations of current projects, keeping residents informed. This geographic overview allows visitors to explore and discover engagements near them or in their areas of interest. Well done, City of Adelaide, for enhancing transparency and encouraging greater community participation in local initiatives.
View City of Adelaide’s Neighborhood Projects
We hope you found these examples inspiring.
