WHEN
Thursday, 8 October 2026
TIME
During Community Engagement Asia
(9am-5pm) SGT
WHERE
One Farrer Hotel, Singapore
Introducing ENGAGE by Community Engagement Asia
ENGAGE recognises the organisations, teams and individuals driving meaningful change across Singapore’s communities. Created by Community Engagement Asia, these recognition awards celebrate outstanding initiatives, innovative partnerships and measurable impact — honouring those setting the benchmark for community engagement excellence.
Join us as we celebrate the people behind stronger, more connected communities.
ENGAGE Recognition Awards Key Dates
21 August 2026
Entries Deadline
24 September 2026
Finalists Announced
8 October 2026
Winners Announced at Community Engagement Asia Conference in Singapore
What ENGAGE Stands For
ENGAGE Recognition Awards by Community Engagement Asia celebrate organisations, teams and individuals who embody the principles of meaningful community engagement.
Empathy-led
Understanding communities starts with listening, not assumptions. Strong engagement is grounded in real experiences, voices and local context, ensuring initiatives respond to genuine community needs.
Needs-driven
Effective engagement addresses real challenges. It is informed by evidence, insights and community priorities—not trends, optics or internal agendas.
Ground-up Action
Meaningful engagement is built with communities, not simply for them. It values participation, co-creation and practical action that empowers communities to shape solutions.
Authentic Trust
Trust is earned through consistency, transparency and genuine relationships. Lasting engagement extends beyond one-off initiatives to foster confidence and mutual respect over time.
Genuine Partnerships
Complex community challenges require collective action. Strong partnerships across the public, private and people sectors create more inclusive, sustainable and impactful outcomes.
Enduring Impact
The true measure of community engagement is the positive change it leaves behind. Beyond participation and awareness, impactful initiatives create lasting social value for individuals and communities alike.
Category Descriptions
1. Best Community Engagement Strategy
This category recognises the strength and clarity behind the design of a community engagement initiative. It honours work that is grounded in a deep understanding of the community, where insights are translated into a clear, intentional strategy that guides execution.
Judges will look for a well-defined problem, supported by meaningful insights, and a thoughtful approach that reflects the realities of the community. Strong submissions will demonstrate how the strategy informed key decisions, aligned stakeholders, and translated seamlessly into execution. Consideration will also be given to the effectiveness of the approach, including measurable outcomes and its potential for sustainability or scale.
2. Best Engagement for Hard-to-Reach Communities
This category recognises initiatives that have successfully engaged communities that are often underserved, marginalised, or difficult to reach. It honours work that demonstrates empathy, cultural sensitivity, and a sustained commitment to building trust.
Judges will assess how well the initiative understood and addressed the barriers faced by the community, and whether the approach was tailored to their specific context. Strong submissions will show consistent engagement beyond one-off efforts, meaningful participation, and evidence of genuine relationships built over time. The depth of trust and level of community involvement will be key considerations.
3. Excellence in Community Impact & Measurement
This category recognises organisations that demonstrate rigour and clarity in measuring the outcomes of their community engagement efforts. It focuses on work that goes beyond surface-level metrics to show meaningful, tangible impact.
Entries should present a clear framework for defining and measuring success, including the use of both quantitative and qualitative indicators. Judges will look for evidence of real outcomes, such as behavioural change or sustained improvements within the community, as well as transparency in reporting. Strong submissions will clearly link engagement efforts to measurable impact and demonstrate a thoughtful, structured approach to evaluation.
4. Best Cross-Sector Collaboration
This category recognises partnerships that bring together organisations across the public, private, and social sectors to deliver meaningful community outcomes. It celebrates collaborations where each partner contributes strategically, creating impact that would not have been possible independently.
Judges will evaluate the clarity of roles, the strength of collaboration, and how effectively resources, expertise, and networks were brought together. Strong submissions will demonstrate alignment among partners, effective coordination, and clear outcomes achieved through collective effort. The sustainability and long-term value of the collaboration will also be considered.
5. Most Innovative Community Engagement Initiative
This category recognises initiatives that introduce new and effective approaches to engaging communities. Innovation may take the form of new tools, technologies, formats, or methods — but must be grounded in relevance and practical impact.
Judges will look for originality in approach, as well as evidence that the innovation improved engagement or outcomes. Strong submissions will demonstrate that the approach was not only creative, but also effective, applicable in real-world settings, and potentially scalable. The focus will be on innovation that enhances engagement in meaningful and measurable ways.
Our Judging Methodology
To ensure the ENGAGE Recognition Awards recognise true excellence, every entry undergoes a rigorous and impartial evaluation. An independent panel of leaders responsible for building, managing, and engaging communities will assess each submission against the relevant judging criteria, ensuring a transparent, fair, and merit-based process.
Assessment
Each submission will be evaluated and scored based on the information provided in the written entry. Judges will assess how well the submission meets the specific judging criteria for its respective category.
Entry Submission
1. How to enter?
All entries should be completed using the standard entry submission documents.
Before you proceed to the submission portal:
- Download and read the entry guidelines.
- Please download and only use the entry submission form provided to prepare your submission.
- You will have to key in your email address on the submission form before you can proceed with the online submission process. This will allow you to return to this page anytime before the deadline to edit your submissions.
- Please note that you will need to input your contact information in order to save your submission. Entrants are strongly encouraged to gather all entry materials such as photos, videos and charts before starting the entry process.
- Please ensure that all details you enter into the entry details are CONSISTENT with the details on the entry submission form you upload.
- Upon submission deadline, all entry details, including company names, credits, and so on, are FINAL and cannot be changed and/or transferred to another party.
- Remember to click on FINISH at the CHECKOUT page to confirm your submission. You’ll receive a confirmation note thereafter.
2. Submission Overview
Please download these documents before you proceed:
Entry Guidelines – this will guide you through the submission process. It contains key judging criteria for each category which you will be judged upon.
Entry Forms
- Refrain from using your own entry template with your company branding, and only use what is provided.
- Please be reminded that the limit for your overall entry form is restricted to 2000 words only. Judges can mark you down for exceeding word limit.
- You may enter in multiple relevant categories, but please ensure each entry submission form is tailored to the specific category to increase your chances of winning.
- Please create your entry submission using the respective entry submission form without altering/deleting the words in the header.
3. Submission Deadline
21 August 2026, 6pm GMT+8
4. Judging Criteria
Your entry submission form should contain a maximum of 2,000 words (total) with evidence to support and address each of the criteria points outlined in the “categories and criteria” section of the entry guidelines document.
Each section holds a maximum potential value of 10 points. When reviewing individual entries, the judges will decide how many points to award against every criterion out of 10, so please ensure each area is fully covered in order to achieve your highest possible score.
4. Eligibility
- Projects must have been implemented or achieved demonstrable progress during the eligibility period from 2024 to present day.
- Entries must be submitted by the organisation responsible for the initiative, or with appropriate authorisation.
- All submissions must be completed in English.
- All categories are open to organisations based in Singapore.
- Organisations may submit multiple entries across different categories where applicable.
- A single initiative may be entered into multiple categories if it satisfies the objectives of each category.
5. Payment Mode
All entries are non-refundable.
6. Terms & Conditions
- All entry fees are non-refundable.
- The judges’ decisions are final and no correspondence will be entered into regarding the results.
- Community Engagement Asia reserves the right to merge, amend or withdraw any award category should it be deemed necessary. In such cases, entry fees will not be refunded.
- If your entry is shortlisted or selected as a winner, the information submitted through the entry portal may be used across Community Engagement Asia’s website, awards collateral, certificates, trophies and other promotional materials. For editorial consistency, company suffixes such as Pte. Ltd., Sdn. Bhd., Berhad, Inc., Corporation, PT and similar designations may be omitted.
- All information submitted, including organisation names, project titles and credits, will be considered final upon the close of entries. No amendments or transfers will be accepted after the submission deadline.
- All judges are bound by strict confidentiality and conflict of interest requirements. Judges will not assess entries submitted by their own organisation or any organisation where a conflict of interest exists.
- Winners will be announced at Community Engagement Asia 2026 (Singapore).
- Community Engagement Asia reserves the right to remove any entry from the judging process if the submitting organisation has outstanding payment obligations or a history of non-payment.
- By submitting an entry, entrants agree to abide by these Terms & Conditions and the official Entry Guidelines. Community Engagement Asia reserves the right to make the final interpretation of these guidelines where necessary.
7. Entry Requirements
- During the online submission process, you will be asked to provide the information outlined in the Entry Submission Form. We recommend preparing your responses and supporting materials in advance.
- Information submitted as part of your entry (unless clearly marked as confidential and for judges’ reference only) may be used by Community Engagement Asia before, during and after the awards programme across our website, awards collateral, certificates, trophies, event materials and promotional communications.
- Your core submission should address all required sections. Please keep your responses clear, concise and within the stated word limits. To ensure a fair judging process, judges reserve the right to deduct marks from entries that exceed the prescribed word limits or do not sufficiently address the required criteria.
- Please tailor your submission to the specific award category you are entering. Refer to the category descriptions and judging criteria for the expectations and evidence required for each category.
- Submissions should be supported with relevant evidence wherever possible. This may include data, research findings, impact metrics, testimonials, photographs, media coverage, evaluation reports or other supporting documentation. Entries that are not supported by sufficient evidence may receive lower scores at the judges’ discretion.
- If you are submitting multiple entries, each submission should be tailored specifically to the respective category and should not be duplicated across categories.
- Any information intended solely for the judging panel should be clearly marked as Confidential. Such information will only be shared with the judging panel and will not be used in any promotional materials or published by Community Engagement Asia.
- The core submission and all supporting documents must be submitted in PDF format. If your documents are password protected, please include the password within your submission.
- Finalists and winners may be featured across Community Engagement Asia’s marketing and editorial channels, including but not limited to our website, social media platforms, event materials and post-event communications. By entering the awards, organisations grant Community Engagement Asia permission to use submitted logos, photographs, videos and non-confidential information for the purpose of promoting the awards and recognising finalists and winners, without royalty or licensing fees.
Entry Fees
SGD250 per award entry
Additional entries: SGD180 per category
Attending Community Engagement Asia 2026 as a team?
If your organisation is submitting award entries and planning to send your team to Community Engagement Asia 2026, we’re offering special conference rates to help you maximise both recognition and learning.
Get recognised for your work, celebrate your team’s achievements, and gain practical insights from the conference—all in one experience.
Contact our team to find out more about our special group rates.
