Go Vocal’s blog—get insights, advice, and all the latest information on trends to help you foster meaningful engagement.
Our cities are becoming increasingly more tech-driven, yet digital participation isn’t always growing at the same speed. So, what are the main barriers to participation and how can digital tools help?
Participatory budgeting can be a powerful tool for cities to educate, engage, and empower communities. As one of the methods ranking highest on the participation ladder, this kind of engagement project transfers considerable decision-making power to residents and stakeholders and thus maximizes the many benefits of community engagement. But what does it all entail? And how do you get started?
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.
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?
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.
More and more local governments are engaging their communities in decision-making. Whether it’s to increase trust or create more inclusive policies, community engagement has become a central part of local government and we’ve found that digital engagement with CitizenLab leads to 12x more participation on average. To help local governments keep up, engagement teams are being formed in cities all across the country.
For the last year and a half, the world has grappled with a disruptive and deadly pandemic. Earlier this year, the climate crisis reared its head, wiping out entire towns and regions with floods and fires. There’s only way for us to face these trials—by engaging communities and tackling challenges as one.
Trust is a two-way street. To convince your community that your engagement efforts and digital community engagement platform are trustworthy, they need to feel heard and included. In our experience, it takes time to build trust, but there are several good practices to help you get started.
Six years ago, our co-founders Wietse Van Ransbeeck and Aline Muylaert started CitizenLab.
Participatory budgeting — or, in plain English, involving community members in the allocation of public funds —is a powerful tool for cities to empower communities and co-create more pleasant, accessible, and equitable cities.
Peñalolén (241,599 inhabitants), a Chilean commune in the province of Santiago, launched a participatory budget to give citizens a say in their neighborhoods’ urban planning projects. In each neighborhood, citizens could voice their opinions and vote on what they think deserves the municipality’s investment. Over 24,450 inhabitants participated in this project via the online platform.
