Blog

Go Vocal’s blog—get insights, advice, and all the latest information on trends to help you foster meaningful engagement.

Engagement 101
what is participatory budgeting definition
Sören Fillet
December 2, 2024

What is participatory budgeting?

For many governments, building trust and ensuring transparency in budget allocation are ongoing challenges. Enter participatory budgeting: a proven approach that empowers communities to have a say in how public funds are spent. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the advantages and challenges of participatory budgeting, explore real-world examples, and provide actionable steps for getting started.

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Engagement 101
best practices for community engagement to boost participation
Sören Fillet
November 5, 2024

10 best practices for community engagement to boost participation

Are you tired of seeing only the same faces show up at every town hall meeting? Frustrated by low engagement rates and lacklustre feedback? You're not alone. Many peers struggle to engage their communities and get meaningful input. But it doesn't have to be this way. This blog post will share ten best practices to help you break the cycle of low engagement and boost participation.

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Engagement 101
How to avoid survey fatigue boost participation
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October 31, 2024

How to avoid survey fatigue

Are you struggling with low survey response rates? You're not alone. Survey fatigue is a common issue that can hinder your ability to gather accurate and representative data. But there are ways to overcome this challenge and ensure that your community's voice is heard. Read on to discover effective strategies to combat survey fatigue.

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Engagement 101
What is deliberative democracy definition
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October 31, 2024

What is deliberative democracy? A comprehensive guide

Citizens’ assemblies and panels are on the rise, at all levels of government. Between September 2021 and September 2023, the OECD collected 160 new cases of representative deliberative processes. In this article, you’ll get a deeper understanding of deliberative democracy, its principles, and how it contrasts with other forms of democracy.

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Engagement 101
Woman on public transport filling out community engagement survey questions
Sören Fillet
October 21, 2024

How to design community engagement survey questions

Surveys are used across our platforms to gauge communities' opinions on pressing issues. However, crafting an effective community engagement survey is far from simple. How you structure your questions can make or break your project – it affects the quality of data you collect, the number of responses, and, perhaps most importantly, the level of public engagement you’re able to generate.

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Engagement 101
The difference between debate, dialogue, and deliberation
Sören Fillet
October 18, 2024

The difference between debate, dialogue, and deliberation

Dialogue, debate, or deliberation — what's the difference, and why does it matter? These three methods shape how communities discuss, decide, and drive change. Dive into their unique roles in community engagement.

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Engagement 101
what is participatory democracy
Sören Fillet
October 2, 2024

What is participatory democracy?

Participatory democracy is a form of government that has gained significant traction over the past years, making government more responsive and decisions more equitable. This article explores the principles, benefits, and challenges of participatory democracy, comparing it to other forms of democratic governance.

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Engagement 101
5 most common myths about community engagement
Sören Fillet
October 3, 2023

5 most common myths about community engagement

From costly expenses to loss of control, several misconceptions about community engagement can hinder local governments from unlocking the full potential of participatory democracy to this day. In this blog post, we’ll explore five of the most-heard myths and why they’re not true.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
August 15, 2023

5 things councils should know about engaging youth

“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.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
September 5, 2022

What is the difference between Old and New Power?

This blog post is inspired by the article “Understanding New Power” by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, which is an extract from their book New Power.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
August 7, 2023

How do you follow up on input from your community engagement process?

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.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
October 10, 2023

The difference between artificial and collective intelligence

Artificial Intelligence, Collective Intelligence… these notions might sound like they come from coming from a distant future, but they are actually becoming reality.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
October 3, 2023

The difference between community engagement and participation

Over the last few years, there’s been a shift from top-down governance to more horizontally organized types of governance. This new political current includes all the stakeholders of public policy projects, such as public organizations, businesses and community members, into the decision-making process.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
November 21, 2023

Using a digital engagement platform for offline events: examples

Traditionally, community engagement has been compartmentalized into offline and online methods, often treated as distinct and separate elements. However, the evolving needs and preferences of the public call for a paradigm shift. It’s time to blend these worlds, for instance by using digital engagement platforms as enhancers of offline community engagement. This integration promises to streamline processes and enrich the quality of participation.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
September 6, 2023

Trends for youth civic engagement: online, inclusive, and local

By the time you finish reading this sentence, around 30,000 tweets have been posted and 200,000 searches have been made on Google.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
June 6, 2023

Slacktivism': Legitimate Action or Just Lazy Liking?

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.

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Engagement 101
engagement team roles skills responsibilities
Sören Fillet
June 19, 2023

Sculpting an impactful engagement team: essential roles and skills

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.

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Engagement 101
quiz culture of engagement
Sören Fillet
June 10, 2023

Quiz: How strong is your culture of engagement?

Ever wondered how you match up on your community engagement efforts? We’ve got just the quiz for you. Answer a few questions, get a clear score of your efforts, and get resources to support you as you level up.

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Engagement 101
measure impact community engagement platform KPI metrics
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April 19, 2023

How to measure the impact of community engagement and your platform

Have you ever logged into an analytics dashboard and felt daunted by all the numbers on your screen? You’re not alone. When trying to measure the effectiveness of your online community engagement efforts, the challenge is to sift through numerous available metrics and analyse the relevant ones so you can get to actionable insights.

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Engagement 101
community engagement political support
Sören Fillet
November 24, 2023

Driving leadership buy-in for community engagement: expert tips

As one of Go Vocal's co-founders, current Regional Director and previous Head of Government Success and Commercial Director, Aline Muylaert has extensive experience working with local governments to develop and implement successful community engagement initiatives. We sat down for an interview with Aline to discuss the importance of leadership buy-in and ambition in building a culture of engagement.

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Engagement 101
Vanja Pantic
February 25, 2023

What is the difference between diversity, equity, and inclusion?

Many local governments struggle to include more residents in their projects and often find that some voices are much louder than others, and many people aren’t heard at all.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
April 27, 2023

What's the difference between deliberation and participation?

Deliberation and participation may seem like similar concepts. At their core, they kind of are: both deliberative and participatory democracies are systems that include community members in governance.

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Engagement 101
communications plan community engagement
Sören Fillet
January 22, 2024

5 tips for a good communications plan for community engagement

Whether you’re looking to launch a project, are already running one, or have reached the report-out phase, a strong communications plan will help drive the success of your efforts. In this article, we discuss the five basic principles of a good communications plan for your community engagement efforts.

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Engagement 101
Vanja Pantic
July 3, 2023

6 tips for multilingual community engagement

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.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
April 11, 2023

5 ways to convince citizens to trust and use your platform

When setting up a participation platform, the matter of trust is something that pops up quite often.

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Engagement 101
Sören Fillet
January 11, 2023

3 things an online survey can and can’t do

From shaping the future city of Lancaster to improving parks and rec in Carlisle, PA, surveys are used across our platforms to gauge a community’s opinions on specific topics. Surveys and polls are easy to set up and provide a low-threshold way for community members to weigh in on policy topics, which explains their popularity as a participation method. Still, they only scratch the surface of what community engagement can really accomplish. Let’s examine a survey tool’s main strengths and limitations.

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Engagement 101
How to be an engaged citizen: 10 ways to get involved
Sören Fillet
January 18, 2023

How to be an engaged community member: 10 ways to get involved

If you clicked the title of this article, you’re probably looking for a way to leave a mark on your local community. But it’s easy to get sucked into the grind of everyday life.

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