Community and Neighbourhood Engagement Resource Directory
Welcome to the first version of the Community and Neighbourhood Engagement Resource Directory. It brings together practical, people-centred tools, activities and approaches that help residents understand how their homes work, take small but meaningful actions, and connect with others in their neighbourhoods.
These resources support what we often call soft retrofit, early and often informal approaches that build understanding, confidence and agency. They help create the conditions for wider retrofit to take place, especially when working in homes, streets and local places.
The directory includes examples from across different regions and contexts, developed by community groups, local authorities, housing providers, universities, and practitioners working directly with residents.
The directory includes tools that help with:
Understanding the home
Simple, accessible ways to explore heat loss, damp, ventilation, comfort, energy use or how homes behave.
Everyday agency
Small but vital actions, reflective tools or exercises that help people notice, test or learn something useful about their home or routines.
Neighbourhood and community organising
Ways to bring neighbours together around shared concerns such as warmth, health, damp, or safety, helping conversations grow.
Listening and feedback
Methods that help residents share observations, priorities or ideas in ways that can inform local work and decision making.
SHARE YOUR RESOURCES
This is intended to be a living resource. We know there are many more examples in use across the country, and we would like to include them.
If you have developed or used a resource, tool or activity that helps people engage with their homes or local places, we would like to hear from you. It can be simple, informal or early-stage. It does not need to be a formal toolkit.
