2018 LEARNING GOALS

2018 LEARNING GOALS

A brand new year brings a brand new opportunity to think about what we want to achieve over the 12 months ahead.  We've been discussing our goals for 2018, and have decided that, this year, our resolutions are all about learning.

Here's five of our knowledge goals for 2018... what are yours?  Share at least one thing you want to learn this year in the comments section below.  

THANK YOU! HERE'S TO A FABULOUS 2018

THANK YOU! HERE'S TO A FABULOUS 2018

A little note to say thank you to you - our readers and subscribers - for your support over 2017.   MosaicLab is all about community, sharing, learning and collaboration,  and none of our achievements would be possible without our wonderful clients, participants, partners, friends and supporters. 

We hope you've enjoyed the news, ideas, free resources and more that we've shared in 2017, and we look forward to a 2018 that's full of exciting opportunities,  fabulous conversations andparticipation becoming the norm rather than the exception.  

Have a very safe and Happy New Year. 

6 Industry Interviews: The year that was and what might be

6 Industry Interviews: The year that was and what might be

As 2017 draws to a close, we've rounded up some interesting people who work in the world of public participation, community engagement and deliberative democracy.   Our interviewees, who hail from as far as the UK and New Zealand, have shared their reflections on the year that was 2017, and their hopes and predictions for what might be in 2018. 

From a researcher to facilitator and digital engagement expert to local government employee - these interviews offer a diverse collection of perspectives and ideas.  

Thank you to the six individuals who have taken the time to share their candid, insightful and inspiring thoughts.  Here's to a 2018 that shines bright for the engagement and deliberative democracy space. 

#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

When you’re preparing information inputs for a community engagement process, organisations can spend a lot of time producing glossy brochures and simplified, summarised content.  It’s easy to get lost in all the posters and paragraphs and lose sight of what’s important - what you’re really saying about the issue or decision at hand.

Getting the balance right can be challenging.  So, in this post we’ll not only address this months myth, we’ll also give you 6 simple tips for providing the right information at the right level of detail.

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: MIXED LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: MIXED LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE

We’re committed to sharing our learnings, contributing to the practice of quality engagement and supporting others to improve their engagement skills wherever we can. 

As part of this commitment, today we’re responding to an engagement challenge put forward by one of the subscribers to our e-newsletter The Discussion. The issue this subscriber is facing is: 'Engaging with people when there is a mixed level of knowledge about a subject. ‘

What works? Democracy in Australia and beyond

What works? Democracy in Australia and beyond

MosaicLab's co-founder Nicole Hunter recently took part on a panel of esteemed guests  discussing potential futures for democracy across Australia and the World.  The panel formed part of the University of Canberra Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis (IGPA) Smart Governance Conversation on Desirable Futures series. 

The evening saw a very interesting conversation take place around democracy in Australia and beyond and ideas for doing it differently in the future.   If you weren't lucky enough to make it on the evening, today we're sharing the official video of the panel discussion. 

#MonthlyMyth: Firm positioning required before engaging

#MonthlyMyth: Firm positioning required before engaging

It’s an easy trap to fall into, and an approach that’s often taken as a matter of course – solidify your organisation’s position before you engage with any external community or stakeholders.  While this may appear (in the short term) to make your organisation feel more ready to engage, it actually undermines many of the objectives of a robust engagement process. 

New free resource: Biases that mess up your decision making

New free resource: Biases that mess up your decision making

There are many ways our brains actively work to bias our thinking and, therefore, our decision making. Each of these different sorts of biases can stop us from seeing an issue from a different perspective.

This tendency can limit our understanding of new and different evidence and therefore restrict our ability to make the best overall decision/s. By understanding these biases and using different tools to help question others and ourselves we can access more information and weigh up data more thoroughly.

So, to help you out, we’ve provided a new, free download highlighting six of the most common brain biases that affect our everyday decision making – because identifying them is the hardest part!