Participation Fatigue: When Community Engagement Becomes a Burden

Community engagement is meant to empower, to shift power, build trust and drive change from the ground up. But what happens when participation itself starts to feel like labour without reward? When the same communities are endlessly asked to “consult,” “advise” and “share lived experience,” yet rarely see the impact of their contributions?

Participation Fatigue dives straight into this uncomfortable truth; the burnout, the broken promises and the invisible emotional toll of being “engaged” but not genuinely heard.

In this energetic and uncompromising session, we’ll explore how community engagement can slip from collaboration into extraction and what it takes to rebuild it as a space of care, reciprocity and accountability. Expect provocation, honesty and real-world strategies for doing engagement differently.

We’ll hear from practitioners and thinkers who are rewriting the rules:

🎤 Erel Onojobi – Programme Director, Power to Prosper (Runnymede/New Economics Foundation)

🎤 James Shearman – Head of Innovation, Impact on Urban Health

🎤 Dr Hanna Akalu - Participatory Researcher | Co-convener-African Diaspora Postgraduate Seminars, Leading Routes

Together, we’ll unpack:

✨The hidden costs of “good intentions” in participatory work✨How institutions can design engagement that gives back as much as it takes✨What meaningful partnership looks like when community expertise is valued, not extracted

This isn’t another polite panel about best practice. It’s a wake-up call and a rallying point for everyone tired of performative participation.

Join us to challenge the status quo, reimagine what collaboration could look like and leave with ideas that restore both energy and integrity to the work of engagement.

Our Nuff Sed events are CPD accredited, recognising the value of continued learning and professional development within participatory and community-led research. Attendees can earn 3 CPD points for each session they attend, making participation not only an opportunity for connection and reflection but also a contribution to their ongoing professional growth.