Community-engaged practice is not an art form. It’s not an add-on. It’s a way of working; a deep collaboration.

The Relationship is the Project, second edition, published by New South Books, is published in March 2024 – updated with plenty of (NEW) chapters as marked below. With stunning new cover design by Reg Abos!

Pre-order here.

The Relationship is the Project features provocations, tools and practical tips for working with communities. This includes the ethics and logistics of working on community-based projects, from First Peoples’ leadership to climate justice, cultural safety to class, intersectionality to disaster recovery and more.

This updated and expanded edition features contributions by more than 40 thought leaders across the arts, cultural and community sectors. It’s a must-have resource for all community-engaged practice.

Editorial team:

Jade Lillie – Curator. Co-pilot. Editor. Contributor. 

  • What is community-engaged practice?
  • The art of facilitation (with Kate Larsen) (NEW)
  • #EpicFail
  • The relationship is the project

Kate Larsen – Co-pilot. Editor. Contributor. 

  • The art of facilitation (with Jade Lillie) (NEW)
  • A duty of care

Cara Kirkwood – Editor

Jax Brown – Editor

Contributors, in publication order:

Genevieve Grieves – First Peoples first

Ruth De Souza – Cultural safety: Beyond inclusion

Lia Pa’apa’a – Creatively and culturally safe spaces

Dianne Jones, Odette Kelada and Lilly Brown – Racial literacy: what is ‘race’ and why is it so important to understand?

Alia Gabres – Intersectionality in community

Tania Cañas – Ethics and self-determination

Eleanor Jackson – The art of collaboration

Samuel Kanaan-Oringo and Rosie Dennis – Creating communities

Caroline Bowditch – Disability access and inclusion

Claire Bridge and Chelle Destefano – Bridging Deaf and hearing worlds (NEW)

Jeremy Smith – Labels: from avoidance to acceptance (NEW)

Tristan Meecham and Bec Reid – Creative lives and contemporary ageing (NEW) 

Lenine Bourke – Collaborating with children and young people

Daniel Santangeli – Working with queer communities and artists

Simona Castricum and CQ Quinan – Gender and public spaces (NEW) 

Alysha Herrmann and Anthony Peluso – Regional arts practice: place takes time (NEW)

Nina Ross, Lizzy Sampson and Jessie Scott – No-one here talks about class (NEW)

Esther Anatolitis – The art of the institution

Anna Reece – The art of festivals

Adolfo Aranjuez – Platforming for community: going beyond surface representation

Fotis Kapetopoulos – Audiences and cultural diversity

Karrina Nolan and Alex Kelly – Art and climate justice (NEW)

Scotia Monkivitch – Creative practice in disaster recovery (NEW)

Jen Rae and Claire G. Coleman – Reworlding: adapting to the climate emergency through relationality (NEW)

Seb Chan – Squads and swarms: engaging with communities online (NEW)

Paschal Berry – No end date: time frames and expectations

Timoci O’Connor – Culturally safe evaluation (NEW)