[en] The best of the best are brought in for the new project - the most experienced project management team; a stellar engineering and design staff; project controls experts; the best estimators; a proven environment, safety and health team; professional technical writers; top-shelf communications/public relations personnel, and graphic artists to optimally convey targeted messages and information. The project features an unmatched quality assurance/quality control staff, a configuration control team that assures an air-tight process, and a solid legal team. Not only does this team bring experience and confidence, it brings time-tested models and methods to implement their responsibilities and save schedule and budget resources. The experienced team can take advantage of internal off-the-shelf manuals and procedures that bring in a level of calm at a time when so much is changing and happening so fast. There is one area where off the shelf will not work well - the project Community Engagement Plan. An attempt to homogenize a present project with one from the past could introduce significant obstacles to be overcome while creating project setbacks. The best place for an off-the-shelf Community Engagement Plan is back on-the-shelf. There are too many variables at play to simply try and 'adjust a few things' and use a prior or a 'standard' plan. Pushback is all but guaranteed from any community that perceives it is being labeled as 'standard.' 'average,' or 'basic.' Your client deserves better, and the host community for the project certainly deserves better. Social Ecology methods are the path to better. This paper will discuss the origin of the practice of Social Ecology, how and why it works, and the value of early initiation of the process of learning community and learning the community. The former is a skill-based way to understand how communities work by engaging with them, whereas the latter is knowledge-based and involves learning about the involved community. Both processes are essential to effective community engagement planning. Suggestions will be offered on the type of project personnel who should engage in the community and the favorable skill sets needed. Further, the paper will detail how and where to find community influencers to learn from and obtain their insights on community concerns that pertain to proposed projects. Also discussed will be the need for approaches to ensure underserved community voices are sought and heard. This includes the value of continued and personal contact in creating enthusiasm for participation, and the understanding that learning community is a type of site-specific and project-specific due diligence. Social Ecology methods enable relationship-building with and within the communities that will be valuable into the future and help to mitigate outside influences on projects. The Engagement Plan that is tailored to the community and built with their participation will provide both structure and flexibility - valuable assets for projects and important voices of reflection for communities. Regulated/technical projects that lack public support are challenged with greater frequency, leaving public issues unmet. Community participation and support have become critical to achieving success on complex energy, environmental and waste management projects. The ability to be granted a Social License to Operate (SLO) by a community, or attain other levels of understanding, approval or support, is best sought using Social Ecology principles. Understanding a community's pulse, traditions, beliefs, values, and concerns are as important to a project as understanding a project's physical environment. Social Ecology methods work from the inside out of a community and enable a plan to be constructed with both knowledge and perspective - keys to ensuring deeper community involvement and enduring project support. (authors)