What’s Top of the Engagement To-Do List for 2026?
Monday 26th of January 2026
Our January meetup for LA and ALMO engagement officers gave us a great opportunity to step back and talk about priorities for 2026, and it quickly became clear that many people are grappling with the same challenges and ambitions.
One strong theme was the desire to find new and more interesting ways for tenants to get involved. Several participants spoke about wanting to rethink or refresh their current approaches, including remodelling scrutiny, to make engagement feel more accessible and relevant. One comment really captured the mood of the room: “We want to engage with the tenants we haven’t met yet.”
Another shared priority was building stronger representation, particularly on scrutiny panels. People talked about exploring new recruitment routes and reaching different communities, with a specific focus for some on involving younger people and making engagement opportunities more appealing and flexible.
A third theme centred on working more collaboratively across the organisation. Participants spoke about the importance of building stronger links with other council teams, whether through engagement champions within housing services or closer working with equality, diversity and inclusion colleagues.
When it came to what support was needed to make all this happen, there was a strong sense that engagement can’t sit in isolation. Alongside learning from peers and sharing ideas through meetups like this, participants highlighted the need for buy-in, trust and collaboration across the wider organisation to help connect more effectively with communities.
About the meetup
The meetup took place on Zoom on 15 January 2026 and brought together 19 engagement officers. The session was highly interactive, starting with our regular nine-minute networking, followed by a Liberating Structure activity (Min Specs) using Zoom’s whiteboard, and finishing with open space for open discussion and shared problem-solving.
We hope you can join our next meet up on 23rd April – book your place here
Dave McKenna, Tpas Associate
January 2026