Go Vocal’s blog—get insights, advice, and all the latest information on trends to help you foster meaningful engagement.
Online engagement tools enable you to reach a large number of community members in an instant. But not everyone is so simple to reach. Here, we meet four local governments using low- and no-tech engagement methods like WhatsApp, SMS, in-person visits, and the good old telephone to ensure the underheard voices in their community get a chance to have their say.
We hear it often: you want to reach more of your community, and go beyond the same 10 loudest voices in the room. You want your process to be more inclusive so that everyone has the tools necessary to fully participate. However, some groups are harder to reach than others. So how do you reach beyond your usual audience?
Every local government and organisation that has launched a community engagement project knows the challenge: How do you reach underrepresented groups? In this article, we’ll cover some of the good practices for inclusive community engagement so that you’ll be ready to broaden your participation and activate even hard-to-reach target groups.
Placemaking is a people-centered approach to urban planning that focuses on transforming public spaces in a way that brings communities together and creates beautiful, accessible, and interactive cities. Leading with the goal to meet the needs of their residents and create more authentic and welcoming spaces, local governments have been turning to community engagement methods, including digital platforms, in their placemaking initiatives. Community participation allows councils to directly connect with residents and gather fresh ideas and information on how public spaces should be used and improved. This allows communities to grow and adapt according to the needs of the people who live in them.
While the full participation ladder is made up of various methods for community engagement, sometimes local government projects simply necessitate a fast and decisive turnaround when consulting residents and other stakeholders. And that goes two ways, with residents also wanting options to engage with fellow community members’ ideas and see a more direct line of influence on local decision-making.
Public spaces should be equitably distributed, open to everyone, and inclusively designed. It’s no wonder that many urban planning processes now focus on placemaking, the people-centered approach to planning and design of public spaces. More than ever before, there is recognition of the importance of neighbourhoods and the significance of factors such as walkability, public transportation, access to jobs, and diverse housing options. And even beyond their immediate neighbourhoods, people’s expectations of the public realm have changed.
Open government is one of the most closely watched trends in GovTech. While the idea that governments should be more transparent and collaborative isn’t new, it has been gaining momentum in recent years. The growth of public-private partnerships and the development of increasingly complex algorithms behind democratic tools have also reinforced the calls for accountability and openness.
“Young people are the future.” When it comes to engaging and involving our youth, this quote is often mindlessly tossed about and hailed as a key motivator. Of course, empowering our youngest will serve us well for years to come, but young people are very much already here and ready to part in the public debate. That’s why we spoke with Emily and Justin, two inspiring young residents who are both actively involved in youth engagement programmes linked to North Ayrshire Council in Scotland.
Our cities. They are the nexuses of our world. As buzzing and vibrant melting pots of culture, history, art, commerce, and progress, they represent some of humanity’s finest and brightest triumphs. Wherever people from all walks of life come together, the air is thick with raw potential.
If community members are taking the time to visit your community engagement platform and share their ideas, you should take the time to follow up on their input. By communicating actively, you can help build trust with your community.
Wildfires. Drought. Hurricanes. Floods. These days it seems like everywhere you look, some part of the world is experiencing a natural disaster. While some climate changes are natural, today’s rising temperatures and abnormal weather patterns are a direct result of human activities. While organisations, countries, and individuals are all taking steps to mitigate the burgeoning crisis, according to the United Nations we are not on track to meet the target set by the Paris Agreement to prevent the globe’s temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Where do we go from here? Enter climate action plans.
Whether you’ve been updating bicycle infrastructure or you’re struggling to connect transit options, it’s key to make your mobility plan as inclusive as possible. So what exactly should you consider, and how should you go about it?
Running inclusive and participatory community engagement projects requires meeting people where they are. In part, that means having a plan for multilingual engagement to ensure that everyone in your community has the ability to participate. By removing language barriers, your community engagement efforts will be more inclusive, participatory, and representative.
Whether you’re working in the public or private sector, you’ll inevitably find yourself needing buy-in from community members and other stakeholders. Comprehensive plans, economic development plans, strategic plans, climate action plans, mobility plans – whatever your mandate, most planning processes share the same core components and necessitate public engagement.
Anonymous participation can be the key to unlocking engagement on topics that your community is divided on. We’ve helped clients host their fair share of such projects on CitizenLab platforms, and we heard the desire for an anonymous participation option loud and clear. Read more to learn how this latest feature can help increase engagement rates.
An effective community engagement team, similar to a well-tuned orchestra, relies on a mix of diverse roles each playing their unique part in harmony. As for most teams, the key to success lies in bringing together people with different personalities, skills, and abilities. During his time as Go Vocal's Government Success Manager, Hugo De Brouwer explained which roles and skills an organisation needs to take participation to the next level.
While citizens’ assemblies and panels have been around since the dawn of democracy, they’ve recently received increased attention as an effective means of resolving polarized debates and restoring public trust in democratic institutions.
When it comes to engaging with the public, social media is often a first instinct for many government officials. It is easy to access, widely utilised, and is often the first place people go to share their opinions on trending issues or topics in their communities. In fact, according to TechCrunch, 62% of adults now get their news from social media. But when it comes to meaningful and effective community engagement, especially if it’s in pursuit of inclusive and equitable policy-making, social media lacks the moderation, security, and deliberation required for officials to make truly representative decisions.
It sounds like a contradictio in terminis, like ‘sound of silence’ or ‘sensible Twitter debate’. But ‘slacktivism’, a contraction of ‘activism’ and uh, ‘slacking’, has become a widespread phenomenon that urges us to reflect on the nature of activism and participation.
Digital community engagement can complement offline engagement, but it doesn’t replace it. Offline participation methods are still widespread, as they’ve proven their value for many communities by allowing for deliberation and debate.
