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THANK YOU & HAPPY HOLIDAYS
#MONTHLYMYTH: CALL IT DELIBERATION & IT WILL BE
Deliberative democracy isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ type of deal. Deliberative processes can come in multiple packages, and deliberative elements can be integrated into a range of different engagement approaches. However, a truly deliberative process is built around some simple core principles, and it’s risky to call a process ‘deliberation’ if it doesn’t truly hit the mark.
So, what are the principles of deliberative democracy, and how would we know if a process wasn’t truly deliberative?
DEMOCRACY BEYOND ELECTIONS: 'HOW TO' GUIDE PUBLISHED
DELIBERATION INNOVATION: EVENT WRAP-UP
We love connecting with people across the industry, sharing knowledge and supporting learning. So, when we heard that Dr. Brett Hennig (the Sortition Foundation) would be in Melbourne, we jumped at the chance to build an event around his visit. The result was a free Deliberation Innovation & Public Sector Engagement event, which incorporated both an afternoon of deliberation training for government and an evening of engaging conversation.
FREE EVENT! DELIBERATION INNOVATION & PUBLIC SECTOR ENGAGEMENT
Join us in for a day of FREE training, learning, networking and sharing in Melbourne on 12 December.
We’re hosting a jam-packed two-part event: Deliberation 101 Training for Government , followed by an Engaging Evening of conversation with with Dr. Brett Hennig (the Sortition Foundation UK) and Louisa Curry (Local Government Victoria).
The event will explore an engagement dilemma facing the public sector - how to engage effectively against a backdrop of new expectations and requirements, including legislative reform. It’s an opportunity to learn from international and Australian experiences, and consider how your organisation could engage better in a changing world.
Registrations are now open and places are very limited, so be sure to secure your spot ASAP.
DILEMMA DISCUSSED: ‘HOSTILE’ AUDIENCES & HIGH EMOTION
This post tackles a big, scary dilemma – conflict, outrage and emotion. We’re often asked for advice around this topic, because it’s something that worries many people in the engagement space - even experienced practitioners and facilitators.
Partly, this fear is underpinned by a lack of ‘tools’ or skills. So, we’re going to give you some tips to help you prepare for and/or work with conflict, outrage and emotion in a meaningful way.
Because it’s a big, difficult topic, we’re going to address it in two parts: Part one (this post) is about how to plan for it, and in part two (next month) we’ll talk about what to do if you walk into it unexpectedly.
#MONTHLYMYTH: FACILITATORS NEED TO BE CONTENT EXPERTS
Facilitators work across many industries, audiences and topics, and sometimes the issues or information being considered are complex or technical. We’re often asked how we manage to move across so many broad ranging issues and projects, and whether we need to become ‘experts’ in each topic before we facilitate.
This #MonthlyMyth explores some of the misunderstandings that sit behind this myth, highlights the true role of a facilitator, and uncovers how facilitators really work with information and content.
#MONTHLYMYTH: DELIBERATION IS ALWAYS THE ANSWER
Deliberation can be refer to either a micro-process (something you can build into part of a session or engagement process) or a full deliberative democracy process (such as a citizens’ jury).
Deliberative engagement has a lot of potential benefits - these processes can lead to new solutions to challenging problems, improve policy outcomes and engender trust between citizens and decision makers.
So, is deliberation always the right answer/process? The short answer is no.
THE INTERNAL FACTOR: IDEAS FROM THE INDUSTRY
Many of the engagement processes MosaicLab delivers are built around big, complex or strategic issues or decisions. These processes can result in outcomes that affect large cohorts of staff across an organisation.
Not only will some of these staff be required to implement the decision, but involving and informing them from the start of the process will contribute to the overall success of your project.
We wanted to delve deeper into this topic, so we sat down with two internal communication and change specialists with backgrounds in the public sector. They’ve shared easy-to-implement internal communications tips and ideas that you could apply to any big project, engagement process or change.