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.
At Go Vocal, we believe that a combination of synchronous and asynchronous participation opportunities makes for the most qualitative processes. Before COVID shook the world, these synchronous opportunities were mostly happening offline. Public engagement sessions, town halls, focus groups, and citizens’ panels were almost entirely organized as in-person events. However, the past year has shown that we can – and should – reconsider.