In partnership

Report Title here TransitionsSub-title here to participatoryAuthor name June 2021 democracy: How to grow public participation in local governance

Riley Thorold

JUNE 2021 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Contents

Acknowledgments Contents

Page no. I am grateful to our partners the Centre for Progressive Policy for their support, without which this work would not be i. About us 2 possible. Thanks also to all Inclusive Growth Network members for their input 1. Scope of work and research approach 4 and to Garance Choko for her inspiration and ideas. Particular thanks go to Alexa Clay for her support, guidance and 2. Defining and designing public engagement 6 encouragement throughout this project and to Amanda Ibbett, James Morrison and Eden Lew for all their efforts during 3. Transitioning into the future: building the report production process. I would participative systems 13 also like to thank those listed below, all of whom inspired different aspects of this report through conversations and email Micro transitions 15 exchanges. Any errors are my own. Meso transitions 20 Coryn Barclay, Fife Council

Clare Mansfield, Kingston London Macro transitions 26 Borough Council 4. Conclusions 32 Cllr Saima Ashraf, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

Avril McIntyre, Community Resources Pam Crosthwaite, North Ayrshire Council Cllr Joe Cullinane, North Ayrshire Council Evelyn O’Donnell, Glasgow City Council Graham Smith, University of Westminster Panthea Lee, Reboot Jez Hall, Shared Future CIC Tim Hughes, Involve Atte Ojanen, Demos Helsinki Claudia Chwalisz, OECD Matt Leighninger, Public Agenda Frances Foley, Compass Louise Crow, mySociety

Richard James, Intensive Engagement Limited Perry Walker, Talkshop

Anthony Zacharzewski, The Democratic Society

Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 1 About us (fixed spread) i About us

e are the RSA. The We define our ambitions as: royal society for arts, REALISING manufactures and commerce. We’re Our vision committedW to a future that works for everyone. A future where we can all A world where everyone participate in its creation. is able to participate in The RSA has been at the forefront of creating a better future. significant social impact for over 250 years. Our proven change process, rigorous research, innovative ideas platforms and Our purpose diverse global community of over 30,000 problem solvers, deliver solutions for Uniting people and ideas lasting change. to resolve the challenges We invite you to be part of this change. Join our community. Together, we’ll of our time. unite people and ideas to resolve the challenges of our time. Find out more at thersa.org We are A global community of CHANGE proactive problem solvers.

About our partner aunched in September 2020, the Inclusive Growth Network (IGN) is an ambitious initiative hosted by the Centre for Progressive Policy, Lsupported by delivery partners Metro Dynamics and The royal society for arts, We are the RSA. The royal society manufactures and commerce (RSA), and funders The Joseph Rowntree Foundation for arts, manufactures and commerce. (JRF). The IGN’s membership comprises 12 places – combined authorities and local We unite people and ideas to resolve councils – who are leading the drive for the challenges of our time. inclusive local economies across the UK.

2 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 3 Horizontal Header Intro Page Introduction to the project 1 

methods to be straightforwardly deployed, Scope of work but is part of a cultural shift for distributing power and agency that is highly contextual and research and messy. RESEARCH approach While recognising there is no single approach to growing resident engagement, orking alongside the UK our research has highlighted several broad Inclusive Growth Network transitions in local policy and practice APPROACH the RSA has spent the last that can help local authorities to enhance six months exploring how resident participation. We describe these localW places can advance and embed the transitions, alongside practical guidance use of participatory democracy. The work and priority recommendations, in the has been shaped by five primary research second section of this report. In the questions: first section, we set out an approach to designing particular engagement exercises • How can we make the political that properly accounts for the contextual and business case for participatory nature of local democracy. democracy? The recommendations and guidance • How can we manage a community contained in this report are targeted process effectively, authentically and primarily at local and combined authority ethically, including reaching the most officers and councillors who are interested marginalised groups? in creating more vibrant and participatory • How can we demystify the different local democracies, but we hope the insights methods of citizen involvement? will also be of interest to other audiences, What helps us decide what is the best including process designers, facilitators, approach in each situation? advocates, local communities and SCOPE OF • How can we help create an inclusive researchers. While some of the guidance democratic recovery from the impact is specific to local and regional democracy, of Covid-19? lots of the suggestions apply to national WORK • How can we create the right and even transnational participation. governance structures and institutional context for these processes? Our research has involved (i) interviews with UK and international practitioners, academics, VCSE representatives, public sector leaders, local and combined authority officers and local politicians; (ii) a participatory workshop with IGN members; (iii) a steering group session with a subset of the network; and (iv) desk research exploring international best practice and guidance for community engagement. Our research has shown local democracy to be a complex and dynamic system, rather than a set of discrete institutions and processes. Participatory democracy is not a product to be ‘pulled off a shelf’ or a set of

4 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 5 6 how to grow public participation in local goverance local in participation public grow howto democracy: participatory to Transitions

Defining and designing public engagemment 2 Introduction to participatory democracy Introduction toparticipatory Figure 1:Figure Key ofterms engagement designing public Defining and how to grow public participation in local goverance local in participation public grow howto democracy: participatory to Transitions Footnotes on following page. following on Footnotes 7 Introduction to participatory democracy

Question Key considerations Where? Internal factors to consider include: the buy-in of key decision- makers, the availability of support, resources and skills in the What is the context in which authority, where agency and levers for change exist in the Planning a public Involve have proposed four key sets of engagement is taking place? What council and/or its partners, how quickly a decision needs to be questions that can help organisers to internal and external factors might made and by what mechanism the public input can influence engagement exercise consider and address the key variables that influence the ability of the organiser the decision-making process. influence the design of public engagement: There are many variables that combine to realise their desired outcomes and why? where? who? how?8 External factors to consider include: current and past to determine what the best approach purpose for engagement? How might engagement efforts, potentially controversial topics in to public engagement may be in any the organiser address or mitigate any the community, barriers to resident participation, existing situation. Is the issue high or low-stakes? problematic or challenging contextual relationships and networks in the community and major Does it require thick or thin engagement? factors? political/economic trends and events. How many people need to be involved? Does the issue lend itself to a deliberative Who? Once the question of who has been answered, it is important process? to consider how that target group can be engaged. What are Who needs to be involved in the the barriers that need to be scaled and assets that can be Question Key considerations process, internally and externally, for utilised to enable their participation? What does this imply Why? Leighninger and Nabatchi list some general goals for the organiser to (i) be able to realise about the optimum approach to recruitment and/or marketing engagement.9 The list is high-level and inevitably inexhaustive, their purpose and outcomes; (ii) feel and comms? Organisers should start by asking but provides a solid starting point for addressing the ‘why?’ confident that the process can have We consider how to tackle barriers to resident participation themselves why they are engaging question: influence; (iii) feel satisfied that those with residents: what can participants most impacted by the process have a and the challenge of bringing key decision-makers on board in help the authority with? What can Participation leaders want to gather public input, voice in it? section 2 of this report. the authority help participants with? 1. feedback, and preferences. How? Process design generally works best as a collaborative What are the desired outcomes of Participation leaders want citizens to generate new enterprise. External partners and internal stakeholders (ie the process? 2. ideas or new data. How can a process be designed councillors) can bring valuable perspectives to the design so that it engages the right people, process (councillors, for example, are often best placed to The purpose for engaging with the Participation leaders want to support volunteerism and accounts for the local context and advise on how processes can be designed to have political public and desired outcomes, once 3. citizen-driven problem-solving. delivers outcomes that contribute established, should shape how influence) and engaging them early can help secure their buy- Participation leaders want to make a policy decision. towards the overall purpose of in. organisers answer the subsequent engagement? What methods and three questions. 4. Organisers might also find it helpful to consider different Participation leaders want to develop a plan or a tools can support these aspirations? engagement methods and tools that have worked elsewhere. 5. budget. However, these methods will always need to be adapted and tailored to particular contexts, rather than applied Each of these general goals can then be translated into more mechanistically. specific outcomes; what kind of feedback is required? What data in specific is needed? What kind of policy decision needs to be made? etc. Towards an inventory of 1 Nabatchi, T and Leighninger, M (2015) Public Participation for 21st Century Democracy, Wiley, Hoboken: New Jersey. methods 2 CitizenLab (2020) What is the Difference Bbetween Citizen Engagement and Participation? www.citizenlab.co/blog/civic-engagement/what-is-the- To support process designers, we have difference-between-citizen-engagement-and-participation/ compiled a list of tried and tested public 10 3 Ibid. engagement methods. This should not 4 Organizing Engagement, Types of Engagement: Thick, Thin, and be used as a shortcut to bypass the four Conventional [online] organizingengagement.org/models/types-of- planning stages we set out in the previous engagement-thick-thin-and-conventional/ section – the purpose and context of 5 It is not always easy to discern which issues cause most contention and concern among the public, so it can help to work with residents to draw engagement remain paramount – but may this distinction. offer inspiration and ideas to participation 6 Deliberation is useful for high-stakes, complex issues where a wide range leaders, helping them discover, adapt and of different perspectives need to be considered. combine different engagement methods 7 Chambers, S. (2003) Deliberative Democratic Theory. Annual Review of and tools to fit their purpose and context. Political Science, 6(6): pp307–326. 10 For other helpful engagement methods directories, see Involve’s Methods 8 Read more about how to approach each of these questions in the Involve database. Available at: www.involve.org.uk/resources/methods. Also see Knowledge Base [online] www.involve.org.uk/resources/knowledge-base/ the Engage2020 Action Catalogue. Available at: actioncatalogue.eu/search building-back-how-do-we-involve-communities-covid-19-response-and-3 9 Nabatchi. T and Leighninger. M (2015) Op cit. 8 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 9 Introduction to participatory democracy

Figure 2: Inventory of methods Purpose High/low-stakes Thin/thick Participant Methods Policy stage Cost (£-£££) Size of group Length Example(s)/resources (1-5) issues engagement selection Policy Representative Surveys/polls 1 Varies Both Thin Varies Short UK Polling Report development sample Policy Representative Focus groups 1 £-££ Both Thin 6-12 2 hours How to run focus groups development sample Throughout Representative Citizens’ panel 1-2 £-££ Both Thin Usually thousands Ongoing Barnet Citizens’ Panel policy process sample Targeted Citizen report cards Audit 1 ££ Both Thin Varies Short sample (service More info beneficiaries) Problem reporting Audit 2 Varies Both Thin Unlimited Short Self-selecting FixMyStreet forums Crowdsourcing Agenda-setting 2-3 £ Agenda-setting Usually thin Varies, often large Varies Self-selecting yrpri Crowdfunding Implementation 2-3 £ Both Usually thin Varies, often large Varies Self-selecting Ioby Policy Online networks 1,3 £ Both Usually thin Large Ongoing Self-selecting Labour Policy Forum development Participatory Ideally Walsall Participatory Agenda-setting 1,2,3 ££ Both Thick Varies Self-selecting appraisal ongoing Appraisal Network Policy Democs 2-3 £-££ Both Medium 6-8 Up to 1 day Self-selecting Talk Shop development Thick for core 5-15 core group Appreciative inquiry Agenda-setting 2-4 £-££ Agenda-setting group, thin for engaging with 3 months + Self-selecting More info rest larger network Targeted Varies, usually Participatory audit Audit 2-4 ££ High Thick Multi-year sample (service World Bank Case studies 15-30 beneficiaries) Policy Usually self- Charrettes 2-3,5 ££-£££ High Thick 25-500 3-5 sessions Glasgow Thriving Places development selecting Future search Agenda-setting 1-3 ££-£££ Agenda-setting Thick 25-100 2+ days Multi-stakeholder Future Search Network conference

Participatory PB Chicago Decision-making 2-3,5 ££-£££ Both Thick Unlimited 1+ days Self-selecting budgeting Other examples Consensus Policy 10-20, open to Representative 1-5 £££ High Thick 3+ days Participedia conferences development observers sample Multi-stakeholder, Poverty Truth Policy including people 1-5 £££ High Thick 20-50 1+ year West Cheshire PTC2 commissions development with experience of poverty Citizens’ juries Decision-making 1-5 ££-£££ High Thick 12-24 2+ days Random sample More info Citizens’ assemblies Decision-making 1-5 £££ High Thick 50-250 3+ days Random sample Citizens’ assembly tracker

10 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 11 Introduction to participatory democracy

Box 1: Notes on Figure 2 Methods: an inexhaustive, but varied, range of tried and tested methods that produce different outcomes and apply at different stages in the policy cycle. Policy stage: (i) agenda-setting; (ii) policy development; (iii) decision-making; (iv) audit. Purpose: here we use the following classifications, as listed above: 1 = Participation leaders want to gather public input, feedback, and preferences. 2 = Participation leaders want citizens to generate new ideas or new data. BUILDING 3 = Participation leaders want to support volunteerism and citizen-driven problem-solving. 4 = Participation leaders want to make a policy decision. 5 = Participation leaders want to develop a plan or a budget. PARTICIPATIVE Cost: due to the number of variables involved, it is impossible to provide an accurate summary of costs beyond what we provide here. Readers are advised to follow-up with their own research. High/low-stakes issues: definitions provided above. Agenda-setting is treated as a separate SYSTEMS category (agenda-setting processes are often designed to ascertain which issues are high/ low-stakes). When running engagement on a low-stakes issue, organisers may choose thin, self-selecting, low-commitment forms of engagement. On high-stakes issues, however, organisers should choose a more targeted recruitment approach, seek more informed, thick participation, and consider sharing more decision power with participants. Thin/thick engagement: definitions provided above. There is a spectrum between thin and thick engagement – the categorisations below are necessarily simplified. When it comes to choosing between thin and thick forms of engagement, there tends to be a three-way trade-off between breadth (how many people can participate), depth (how informed and intensive the engagement is) and cost (thick engagement usually costs more than thin engagement) - hence why most engagement practitioners recommend using both thin and thick forms of engagement and, when money allows, combining them to capture the dual benefits of breadth and depth. Size of group: this is an important design question for organisers to consider. The data below reflects the average size chosen in past applications of each method. Length: this is an important design question for organisers to consider. The data below reflects the average length of time chosen in past applications of each method. Participant selection: this is an important design question for organisers to consider. The data below reflects the standard approach taken in past applications of each method.

12 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 13 3 Micro transitions

can help local authorities to develop a local Transitioning participatory infrastructure to support innovative, empowering, inclusive and into the future: impactful forms of participation on a more building ongoing basis. These six transitions overlap significantly participative and cut across different layers of the system, but can broadly be classified as systems such: Under each of these transitions we specify • Compensating participants for he project of growing local Equalising participation a series of practical recommendations that their time. For many people, the participation will require more agencies can pursue in the short-term. The opportunities for financial barrier to participation is the than just well-designed methods. project of building more participative local most fundamental. Without proper Just as specific engagement residents systems will always be a work in progress compensation many young people, Texercises should be designed to account and will vary depending on pre-existing In the majority of cases, all residents are carers, single parents and people for local context, civic leaders should civic infrastructure and past experiences entitled to participate in local consultation with low income will struggle to get proactively work to change the local of civic engagement, but we hope these exercises, however in reality those who do involved. If an issue is important and context, to create the conditions under broad transitions and the practical participate – often nicknamed the ‘usual consequential and people are expected which participation can thrive. recommendations that accompany them suspects’ – tend to be more wealthy, more to contribute substantial amounts of While recognising there is no single can offer inspiration and practical ideas to white and more educated than the wider time to the process, compensating approach to growing resident engagement, local authorities seeking change. population. Local participation can be a participants (at least on a per our research has highlighted six broad mechanism for confronting and redressing request basis) should be a priority. If transitions in local policy and practice that power imbalances, but without a genuine participants come for the money and commitment to equal access and influence, stay for the experience this should participatory programmes risk reinforcing be celebrated: these are precisely the Figure 3: Local infrastructure for participatory democracy existing inequities. When people are simply people who wouldn’t turn up to a entitled to participate, participation will regular local authority meeting. predictably become the vocation of an • Supporting people with disabilities entitled few. and specific access requirements. Avoiding this outcome will require local This includes physical/virtual access to authorities to invest considerable time, participation spaces, access provisions energy and resource into breaking down relating to sensory impairments, access barriers and equalising participation interpreting and translation services opportunities. and trained support for individuals with learning difficulties. There is no silver bullet solution for • Utilising the access opportunities levelling-up local participation. Different provided by technology participation approaches will attract without creating new barriers different people, suggesting a mixed- to participation. Covid-19 social methods approach to local engagement, distancing measures have pushed combining different facilitation methods many engagement processes online and recruitment models, will be most and demonstrated not only that fruitful. However, there are some virtual participation is possible, but practical measures that organisers should that it may be more convenient and always consider, especially when running accessible for many people. However, engagement on high-stakes issues, that will any moves online should be combined consistently enhance access: with focused support and training for participants who require it and measures to improve local access to computers and the internet.

14 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 15 Micro transitions

• Avoiding self-selection by using • Engaging with people on their benefit from longer-term community targeted recruitment. Deliberative Box 7: Example: Camden terms and where they feel development work, perhaps including: processes, user panels, focus groups Conversations: a family-led comfortable. The typical settings for and other methods of engagement enquiry into child protection formal top-down engagement (council • The establishment of community support services often limit participation to a pre- services chambers, local authority meeting to help build selected group. For instance, citizens’ rooms, school assembly halls etc) and grow social networks within assemblies involve a random-stratified In 2017, the Camden Family Advisory can feel overly formal and marked by and between communities, sample of the local population, built to Board (FAB) - a group of parents and symbols of power and status, which facilitate engagement in traditionally match pre-determined demographic grandparents with direct experience of will inevitably put some people off. marginalised groups and provide vital criteria, whereas focus groups often Camden’s child protection system - led an Agencies should engage with people information about local participation 13 involve participants drawn from enquiry into options for making Camden’s where they feel comfortable – in opportunities. a single resident group. Running a child support services more effective local community-led spaces, on street • Supporting communities to create citizens’ assembly alongside a more and inclusive. As well as co-designing the corners, in booths at street fairs or in their own social and civic spaces. targeted process and comparing the research approach, six FAB members community WhatsApp groups. Spaces that are created by communities results can allow agencies to ‘take were supported to conduct interviews In addition to the practical measures listed can be invaluable hubs for community- the temperature’ of the wider public, and focus group discussions with local above, local and combined authorities led discussion, deliberation, learning, without muffling the voice of those social workers and managers and residents should also consider how equitable skills development and relationship communities most impacted by the who had been involved in child protection participation can be embraced strategically building, especially in more fragmented topic of engagement. services. This research culminated in a as part of a long-term approach to or marginalised communities. • Using straightforward, non- series of recommendations for Camden placemaking and community development. • Promoting civic education and technical language. At all stages Safeguarding Children Partnership. participation in local schools and This could start with a thorough audit of any engagement process – Camden Conversations is a strong colleges and/or through specialist of local engagement, helping authorities recruitment/marketing, delivery, and example of peer-research methods being citizens’ academies targeted at to better understand who is currently feedback – organisers should use deployed by a council to (i) empower and marginalised segments of the participating, who is not participating, 14 simple language to avoid alienating non- upskill local residents and (ii) build upon community. This would allow young how people are participating and which specialists and those who don’t speak existing community relationships to hear people to meet local leaders and learn 11 engagement approaches have worked well the language fluently. from different parts of a community. about different local participation in the past. While requiring some up- • Using trained facilitators to opportunities. A simple digital marginalised communities, by front investment and ongoing light-touch engagement platform would enable moderate discussions. For all forms evaluation work, such an audit would of participation that involve dialogue, channelling their communication and young people to regularly have a say marketing via trusted community show where the organisation’s resources in local issues as part of their civic trained facilitation can help to mitigate could be most strategically targeted and power differences within the group, representatives and spokespeople. education and these classes could Organisers can also ask people where future recruitment, sampling and become recruiting grounds for wider enabling all participants to work engagement should be prioritised.12 effectively and cooperatively together. who have previously participated to local engagement activities. Maintaining a network of trained encourage their friends and family to As part of this audit, local authorities facilitators, either within the local get involved – a process of recruitment should ask communities why they do or authority or in the wider community, known as ‘snowball sampling’. For this do not participate in local democracy and has the potential to transform the to work, local authorities will need to what would encourage and enable them to quality of participation in a place. win the trust of prospective recruiters participate more. and should ideally compensate them • Working with partners from the for their time and effort. The audit would help authorities to community. Building partnerships and understand where the most marginalised trust across the local VCSE sector will and disempowered local communities live. not only give local authorities a better These communities in particular would awareness of more informal, bottom- up forms of participation taking place in their area, but also provide them with 12 Lightbody, R (2017) ‘Hard to reach’ or ‘easy to ignore’? Promoting equality in community engagement. What Works Scotland. additional publicity and recruitment 13 Ibid. opportunities. For instance, authorities 11 Camden Conversations: our family-led child protection enquiry. 14 See Kirklees Council’s Democracy Friendly Schools programme for Available at: www.camden.gov.uk/documents/20142/1006758/ might improve levels of engagement, a promising attempt to grow “confident active citizens of the future” Camden+Conversations+-+full+report.pdf/675d7d6c-827b-a4ba-08a9- through democratic education in schools. Read more here: www.nesta. particularly among traditionally 1fbaa9378d10 org.uk/project-updates/nesta-democracy-pioneers-democracy-friendly- schools/

16 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 17 Micro transitions

Key recommendation build civic skills and confidence and offer Taking this developmental approach to following up on the implementation of a varied range of participation options engagement will help agencies to build recommendations or continuing to act on Local authorities should conduct to residents. Each individual participation more sustained participation journeys the issue at hand) or looser platforms into an audit of local engagement, to event, no matter how small, should be out of discrete initiatives. It will work best which participants are able to direct their get a better grasp of who is currently designed in such a way as to reaffirm local when local participation has a low floor newfound political energy. Local agencies participating, who is not participating, relationships, relay helpful civic skills and and a high ceiling – if it’s easy for people could subsequently re-engage this group how people are participating and which habits and redirect participants to future get involved in a light-touch way, and and involve them in designing, facilitating engagement approaches have worked well engagement opportunities. subsequently possible for them to build and publicising future processes. in the past. While requiring some up- and develop knowledge and experience Whether a people’s gateway into local front investment and ongoing light-touch and become more deeply involved in local Box 8: Example: Barking and participation is through thin informal evaluation work, such an audit would politics if they are able and inclined to do Dagenham’s Every One Every exchanges or thick deliberative forums, show where the authority’s resources so. Convenient, low floor gateways to local local agencies should seek to build could be most strategically targeted and Day initiative participation might include: where future recruitment, sampling and residents’ confidence, their ability to engagement should be prioritised. As Barking and Dagenham’s Every One Every • SMS or app-enabled engagement. participate and their understanding of part of this audit, authorities should ask Day initiative was founded in 2017 with This could involve (i) ongoing text/ local politics and additional participation communities why they do or do not the aim of building practical participation WhatsApp messaging between local opportunities. Providing varied participate in local democracy and what (joint cooking, repairing, playing, learning, decision-makers and resident groups;16 opportunities for local engagement at would encourage and enable them to gardening, or producing goods for (ii) more structured back-and-forth different levels is the best way for local participate more. example) into the everyday life of people messaging based on pre-prepared authorities to avoid consultation fatigue living in Barking and Dagenham. Every One text sequences which provide people while still encouraging regular, ongoing Every Day is an attempt to turn Barking with information about a local issue participation. Building sustained and Dagenham into a “large scale, fully 17 and gather their input via text; or (iii) Key recommendation participation journeys for inclusive, practical participatory ecosystem through problem-reporting apps like … the first one of its kind in the world”, FixMyStreet. Based on the data that emerges from residents as a means to building a participatory • Highly social or ‘gamified’ the local engagement audit, local culture in the borough. The first three Participatory democracy is commonly approaches to local participation.18 authorities should develop a series of years of Every One Every Day saw over associated with formal processes deployed Some people’s primary incentive for ‘participation personas’ (general profiles 6,000 people participate in over 140 new during particular ‘decision moments’, but it participating might have little to do that show how different residents engage projects, comprising 34,000 hours of is important not to lose sight of the more with shaping local policy. They may with local agencies and public life more community participation and enterprise. informal, relational modes of participation be there for the free lunch or want to generally). Different participation journeys The perceived impact of the initiative that more accurately reflect most people’s meet their neighbours in a supportive – can then be designed to appeal to each of among participants is impressive, with 80 day-to-day experience of community and potentially fun - environment. Local these persona types and local agencies can percent of respondents reporting higher participation. agencies should consider appealing curate a range of engagement approaches trust in neighbours, increased ‘vibrancy’ to these motivations in their design that will match the interests and priorities At its best, community participation can of Barking and Dagenham and increased and marketing of at least some local of different people in the community. be experienced as an ongoing journey built capacity to make collective decisions, and engagement events. on enduring relationships and, although 70 percent of respondents perceiving When designing engagement exercises, local authorities can and should never increased community capacity to respond • Meeting local residents where they organisers should consider, from an early seek to assert ‘ownership’ over all forms collectively to social, economic and are at - on doorsteps, in community- stage, how the exercise can enhance of local participation, there is good reason environmental problems.15 led spaces, at street fairs or in other residents’ skills, build their confidence and for them to try to establish the conditions informal settings. improve relationships and trust between and incentives for more ongoing resident When it comes to more formal the local authority and community. participation. engagement activities, organisers should make a clear plan for how they intend It is true that, for many residents, to stay engaged with participants after ongoing engagement with local agencies the event. In the past, citizens’ assembly 16 Anecdotal evidence from our research interviews suggests SMS-enabled is neither possible nor desirable (it may engagement has, at least in some areas, grown substantially during the participants have formed alumni groups feel repetitive or gratuitous, leading to pandemic. to stay engaged after the process has ‘consultation fatigue’), but it might help 17 Leighninger, M. (2018) How Public Engagement Needs to Evolve, Part 2. concluded. These can either be task- Available at: medium.com/on-the-agenda/how-public-engagement-needs- to change things if local authorities invest 15 See Barking and Dagenham’s Every One Every Day. Impact. Available at: to-evolve-part-2-1934f065d09c www.weareeveryone.org/impact oriented working groups (for instance, over time in local relationships, seek to 18 For a detailed account of ‘gamified’ approaches to engagement see Lerner, JA (2014). Making democracy fun: How game design can empower citizens and transform politics. The MIT Press, London. 18 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy:18 how to grow public participation in local goverance 19 Meso transitions

Figure 4: Adapted spectrum of participation19

Delegating decision- The nature and degree of influence that the public can realistically exert over public making authority to policymaking and decision-making will residents depend ultimately on why the authority is inviting public participation. If the authority Participatory initiatives are only as good as wants to consult the public for feedback their real-world legacy. Effective processes on existing proposals, the degree of will tend to have multiple positive impacts, influence will inevitably be much lower including on the internal culture and than an agency intending to collaborate practice of public authorities and the with residents in the development of attitudes and behaviours of participants policy. This variability makes it very and the wider community. But here we important for organisers to be categorical, focus on the impact of participation on explicit and transparent about the aims Accountability and transparency updates about policy change and administrations’ policy- and decision- and remit of any participation process cannot simply be achieved through implementation and to clearly publicise making. Without sincere buy-in by local they run. If participants understand the communications in the run-up to an and (if necessary) justify the final powerholders, even skilfully designed, well- terms on which they are participating and engagement process. As the table above decision. intentioned engagement activities will be the influence they can expect to have – implies, it is equally important for public little more than ‘participatory theatre’. even if this is relatively limited in scope • Be transparent about where authorities to follow-up with residents – they are far less likely to be dispirited responsibility for the decision Even cosmetic forms of engagement during the process to explain what is by the process and better able to hold lies and how the local political can enable authorities to familiarise happening and afterwards to explain how the commissioning authority to account system works, including the role themselves with different methods and the public input will influence the final if they break the terms of engagement. It of local politicians and other local design features of participatory democracy. decision. helps to involve politicians in negotiation powerholders. A ‘family tree of local Once authorities have ‘learned the script’, around the appropriate scope and remit Residents will likely be put off from democracy’, as proposed by the they may feel more comfortable investing of a participation exercise – they will have participating again if the commissioning Kirklees Democracy Commission, greater influence in participatory processes a strong sense of the political constraints authority is not communicative or could demonstrate key powerholders or experimenting with more ambitious and leverage points that determine where transparent, regardless of whether they and significant relationships in local participatory models. action is feasible. had any influence over the final decision(s). politics. However, we would never recommend It is important for public authorities, In some cases, it might also be valuable to Figure 4 shows how different aims of running an engagement process on a especially on high-stakes issues, to: support resident-led working groups participation correspond with different topic where there is no room for public or scrutiny committees to monitor the forms of public messaging, helping influence. If a final decision has already • Clearly communicate the timeline uptake of resident input over time and organisers to manage expectations and been made and residents feel that their of decision-making, the programme help communicate progress with the wider create a degree of accountability in their voice has been ignored, they will likely of implementation and key public. public communications leading up to an become disheartened and less willing milestones along the way. One engagement process. Although organisers will need to prioritise to participate in the future. Likewise, in option would be for public authorities certain issues on which higher levels of instances where public engagement has to release publicly accessible shared decision authority is appropriate led to little change in the past, this needs calendars showing decision-making and feasible (public authorities need to to be acknowledged, and accountability timetables, key milestones and any allocate their limited resources strategically taken if communities are to trust any future additional participation opportunities. and there are many low-stakes decisions process. It is important to provide regular

19 This diagram is adapted from Nabatchi, T and Leighninger, M (2015) Op Cit. 20 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 21 Meso transitions

that do not necessarily require such deep North Ayrshire’s locality planning Box 2: Key challenge 1: securing political buy-in for ambitious and influential engagement), we would partnerships have evolved over forms of resident engagement encourage local authorities to routinely time to equalise the power and responsibility held by elected members consider more empowering forms of and community representatives. Councillors are essential to the success of participatory processes. As civic leaders and engagement, as a means to authentically The council’s local grants budget is community representatives, they are the ideal people to champion local participatory demonstrating and building trust with dispensed through participatory democracy. They are also well-placed to advise on local political constraints helping residents. budgeting (PB) processes which organisers determine an appropriate scope and remit for engagement. And most are overseen by these planning importantly, they ultimately decide whether residents’ feedback and/or proposals From our conversations we have identified partnerships. three structural/legal shifts that could ultimately influence local decisions. Without broad political support, any significant changes complement the principles of transparency 3 Local agencies create new to engagement practice within an authority will likely be transient. However, public and accountability set out above and institutions for public participation. participation can seem a challenge to elected authority and councillors’ traditional role help to guarantee more impactful public Some local and regional authorities, as the primary – and relatively autonomous – representatives of local residents. Political engagement exercises: primarily outside the UK, have gone accountability ultimately rests with politicians, so councillors often fear they will be in the an extra step and created entirely new firing line if a process goes badly. 1 Local agencies commit to giving bodies that can help to ‘institutionalise’ residents greater influence over In trying to bring councillors – and other senior figures in an authority – on board with a public influence over political decision- participatory process it’s important to consider the following: local decisions. This is the most making. We consider different straightforward path towards greater approaches to ‘institutionalisation’ in • How to make a case for participation that aligns with a councillor’s existing power sharing and might involve: the next section. values. Involve have set out a range of different arguments that can help to persuade stakeholders. a. Putting options to the community Key recommendation at an early stage when there • It can help to involve councillors in the design process and invite them to is a greater scope to influence Local and regional agencies should start engagement sessions to familiarise them with the mechanics of the process and its aims the process. For instance, giving experimenting more routinely with and desired outcomes. residents the power to set the upstream and empowering engagement public engagement ‘charters’ or ‘ordinances’ agenda, terms and remit for an approaches that fall towards the higher end • A number of authorities have created agency’s policymaking process. of the participation spectrum. This might to demystify participation and support inter-council advocacy, setting out a (i) shared vision for local democracy; (ii) series of principles that characterise good engagement; b. Setting conditions under which include: (iii) range of methods that have previously worked; (iv) summary of evidence on the public authority is bound to • Establishing spaces where the why and when participation is valuable; (v) an outline of roles different stakeholders, implement residents’ proposals, power dynamic between residents including councillors, can play in local participation. or reducing its power to reject and elected representatives community proposals outright. • Participatory processes can give councillors a mandate to act on contentious and is genuinely equal and shared. difficult issues. Understanding which decisions are challenging for councillors and In Gdasńk, Poland, the mayor is The Locality Planning Partnerships explaining that engagement can provide them with confidence and legitimacy to act, required to run a citizens’ assembly established in some Scottish local can be key to securing their support. on any proposals with at least authorities and the mixed deliberative 5,000 signatures. As well as giving committees operating in Brussels both • Councillors are likely to play a subtly different role in a more participatory democracy – residents agenda-setting power, the Councillor local municipality is also bound to provide compelling prototypes for this they will sometimes enable and convene, rather than always drive change. implementing any proposal that kind of collaboration. training, peer-support and induction call help to create new norms, expectations receives over 80 percent support among • Trialling approaches that put final and standards in the local authority for what characterises a ‘successful’ local politician. the citizens’ assembly participants. decision-making in the hands of Listening to residents, responding to their concerns and forging relationships within the the public. For some time, Scottish community should all be seen as core competencies that help councillors to fulfil their 2 Local agencies involve community duties as a local representative. representatives in existing decision- councils have been deploying forms making forums. We have heard of participatory budgeting to allocate • Participatory initiatives should not be used for political point-scoring. The stories of UK councils changing the public money. This has signalled to integrity and legitimacy of participatory democracy depends on it being at least makeup of ward level decision-making residents a clear intent to build a more somewhat insulated from partisan loyalties. It helps if senior politicians, particularly in forums to include residents and responsive local democracy, while also the majority party, try to establish consensus and support for participation across the community figures, thereby creating priming the ground for larger decisions aisle. a space where the power dynamic is being put in the hands of the public in more genuinely equal and shared. the future.

22 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 23 Meso transitions

Embedding participation patterns and staff skills and behaviours. Box 4: Innovation without government-commissioned Innovation in The best participatory experiments experimentation: The Royal Democracy Programme (IiDP).22 as standard practice are catalysts for lasting change in the There is no single roadmap to institutions that commission them. A UK Observatory of Madrid As we argued in the first section of this institutionalisation - it will always government evaluation of participatory report, rather than taking a scientific The Madrid Observatory, an ambitious be complex, contextual, and messy. budgeting – a budgetary approach that is approach to method-selection, it is attempt at institutionalising public Institutional change should be the currently being ‘mainstreamed’ by many advisable for processes to be designed deliberation, suggests some risks of culmination of sustained experimentation Scottish local authorities - suggested that through engagement with a series of open taking more ‘prescriptive’ approaches and evaluation, design and redesign. processes can inspire far-reaching cultural questions about the aims of the process to embedding innovation. Having been Rather than an end point on a journey, change in public sector bodies, encouraging (the why?), the context within which it’s instituted in the highest level of municipal the mainstreaming of participation is a them to share power more systematically being conducted (the where?), the people law, the design and terms of reference significant step on the journey towards with communities.20 that need to have a voice in the process of the new body had to be established more consistent and empowering (the who?) and the resources and assets The shift from small grant participatory in advance through negotiation with the local participation. Rather than the public agency has at its disposal to run budgeting to ‘mainstream’ participatory municipal authority. Although this gave the stifling innovation, it should create the process and follow-up on its outcomes budgeting in Scotland has been the new body legal status, the absence of prior a more enabling context for future (the how?). culmination of a sustained period of testing and iteration meant the body had experimentation and learning. piloting, evaluation, upskilling and learning, shallow roots in the municipal system and As part of this planning process, organisers through which participatory budgeting lacked sufficient political support. After Key recommendation should consider the intended impact of the tools and methods have been refined and only a matter of months, the Observatory project on institutional culture, working Following international best practice, was disbanded by the newly elected local and regional authorities in the government. The Observatory may have UK should experiment with and, over Box 3: Institutionalising public deliberation fared better had it been proceeded by a time, seek to institutionalise robust more agile piloting process to refine the forms of public deliberation, either The creation of new standing deliberative bodies model, grow its legitimacy and build cross- through the creation of new standing party support. • In Ostbelgien (the German-speaking community of Belgium) a permanent, randoly deliberative bodies or the specification selected citizens’ council can set the agenda for up to three separate citizens’ adapted. This spirit of experimentation of definite conditions under which assemblies each year. persists, even where participatory public deliberation is required of a local/ budgeting has been mainstreamed. Fife combined authority.23 In the UK context, • In Madrid, a since-disbanded ‘observatory’ of randomly selected residents was council, for example, have been exploring the scrutiny function could provide a good instituted to monitor municipal action and recommend improvements. It could also options for sequencing a future visioning ‘dock’ for new institutions (as suggested propose city-wide referendums on issues proposed by citizens using the online citizen process, a citizens’ jury and a public vote as by the Newham Democracy and Civic participation tool CONSUL. a means to allocate large-scale budgets. Participation Commission). However, these • In Toronto, randomly-selected ‘reference panels’ meet every two months for two processes should be designed ground North Ayrshire Council is similarly years. One discusses the city’s public transport and the other discusses planning up, tailored to local institutional contexts exploring ways of applying principles issues. and refined through agile piloting. The of participatory budgeting across the institutionalisation of deliberation should The requirement for deliberative engagement in certain circumstances board, including in the commissioning not preclude or stifle ongoing learning, and procurement of services, local capital • In Oregon, the Citizens’ Initiative Review is formalised in the state’s referendum experimentation, evaluation and innovation spending, service redesign, community process. A group of 24 randomly selected residents weigh up the pros and cons and its viability will depend on not being asset ownership and service evaluation of the referendum options and release a statement which is included in the official overly allied with any one political agenda participation, creating economies of scale voters’ pamphlet. or party. for public authorities. Two of the most • In the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, 1,000 signatures proposing a particular topic ambitious models forauthorities seeking to triggers a government-sponsored citizens’ council. hard-wire participatory and deliberative 21 Earlier this year, Newham Council became the first in the UK to commit processes into their standard decision- itself to a ‘permanent citizens’ assembly’. Newham residents have voted • In Gdańsk, Poland, the mayor is required to run a citizens’ assembly on any proposals for the assembly to focus first on ‘greening the borough’. making procedures.21 The mainstreaming with at least 5,000 signatures. 22 The RSA, Involve, the Democratic Society, mySociety (2020). How to PB agenda reflects a growing global run a citizens’ assembly: A handbook for local authorities based on the 20 According to the UK PB Network, “the challenge of Mainstream PB trend of local and regional This can Innovation in Democracy Programme. Available at: www.thersa.org/ is to enable citizens to have their say, and be involved at all stages of globalassets/reports/2020/iidp-citizens-assembly.pdf the commissioning cycle”. It reflects a goal “for PB to move beyond help to guarantee and regularise public 23 The OECD have outlined a set of good practice principles for robust its predominant model of allocating small pots of money… towards ‘institutionalising’ public deliberation were public deliberation. Available at: www.oecd.org/gov/open-government/ repeatedly distributing mainstream public budgets”. Available at: summarised in the final report of the UK good-practice-principles-for-deliberative-processes-for-public-decision- pbnetwork.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/PB-Mainstreaming.pdf making.pdf

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with them, introducing them to infrastructure that can enable a more potential local partners and providing pluralistic and collaborative ecosystem light-touch governance oversight. of local governance, civic participation • In some places, the council has become and service delivery. In the longer term, something of a central learning and a coordination forum (perhaps modelled information hub for the VCSE sector, on the Local Office for Public Engagement monitoring what is happening locally and Innovation we recommend in the across the sector, tracking what is next transition) should be established working and facilitating learning and for ongoing dialogue and collaboration Engaging with residents be one potential forum for this kind of collaboration between community between local VCSE sector and public conversation, which would be intended to: groups. sector in service delivery and resident in partnership with the engagement. • Help public authorities to better While recognising that certain aspects VCSE sector understand the information, resourcing of the status quo will inevitably need and infrastructure requirements of to be reintroduced once the pandemic Securing broad support The VCSE sector often functions as a has passed (many councils have already gateway through which (i) residents can community organisations and how they for participation, within may provide support. reinstated more formal accountability become more involved in local democracy and oversight mechanisms), community and beyond public and (ii) local and combined authorities can • Help community organisations to organisations and public authorities should engage with residents. better understand and, over time not miss this window of opportunity authorities shape, the local authority’s vision/ This intermediary position means to have a genuinely open, creative, charter for local engagement, including Although designating a public engagement VCSE organisations are well-placed to independently facilitated conversation the role the VCSE sector may play function to a single team gives it a clear broker relationships between residents, about the future of their place and the role in supporting the local authority’s home within an organisation, creating clear community groups and public institutions. that different organisations may play in that engagement and how they may hold lines of responsibility and accountability, it is However, as some of our interviewees future. the authority to account when it falls likely to lower the internal status of public suggested (echoing arguments made in short of its vision. Key recommendation engagement and imply that other teams 2018’s UK Civil Society Futures inquiry) the are not required to engage with residents. The pandemic has accelerated changes VCSE sector can also gatekeep interactions In places where the voluntary sector has Isolating the engagement function may put in the relationship between the public between residents and public authorities. grown or taken on new responsibilities it in competition for resources with other and VCSE sectors, making this kind There may be legitimate reasons why during the pandemic, provisions should service areas and may ultimately make it of constructive dialogue even more inclusive and facilitated parts of the sector play this role. They be made for an easier to do away with in the event of an important and urgent. Due to imperatives dialogue about the appropriate 25 may, for instance, have witnessed abuses organisational restructure or budget cut. of crisis response, many councils have roles of different public and VCSE of institutional power in the past and swapped the traditional bureaucratic and sector local institutions in the future, some public authorities have an excessive managerial approach to the VCSE sector including the partnership structures, tendency to withhold power, information, for a more collaborative and facilitative accountability mechanisms and hard/soft resources and support from the VCSE approach. Working together with a shared sector. Local authorities can place heavy- sense of mission and purpose, councils handed accountability requirements and community organisations alike have Box 5: Example: the suspension of PB in Porto Alegre on their VCSE clients, but this is often had to adapt their ways of working to In March 2017, participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre – one of the most remarkable a manifestation of their own resource accommodate one another, potentially and long-standing experiments in local democracy – was suspended. The suspension has constraints and onerous bureaucratic prefiguring a more pluralistic approach to been. In large part, put down to changes in the local administration’s structure. obligations. local governance and service delivery. From its institutionalisation in 1989, PB had been central to the organisational structure, Overcoming these differences of interest, • Some councils have stepped back from directly linked to the office of the mayor with power to oversee and coordinate other whether they are real or perceived, will managing important aspects of the teams and to supervise investments made by the local government. However, from 2005 require a well-resourced coordination Covid response (ie food deliveries to onwards, PB lost its cross-cutting function and instead became a single programme within mechanism that facilitates ongoing shielding residents) instead supporting a single secretary, putting it into competition with other departments for funding. This dialogue and engagement between the VCSE sector partners to take the lead loss of power coincided with a sharp reduction in the resources available to PB, ultimately public and VCSE sectors.24 The Office by sharing resources and information leading to the suspension of PB in 2017. for Public Engagement and Innovation, proposed in the previous section, would 24 Partnership bodies already exist in many areas in the UK, though they are 25 Nuñez, T. Porto Alegre, from a role model to a crisis. In Dias, often poorly resourced and underutilised. N. (ed), Hope for Democracy. Available at: www.oficina.org.pt/ uploads/7/0/6/1/70619115/hope_for_democracy_-_digital.pdf

26 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 27 Macro transitions

Where local engagement seems to work different teams and individuals within Box 6: Key challenge 2: resourcing participation; money and staff most effectively, it is embedded centrally the organisation and individuals and capacity within the organisation and backed up by groups in the wider community can well-resourced cross-cutting networks play in the future participation system. Money and staff capacity are, inevitably, two of the most fundamental barriers to the of participatory specialists (including • Staff job descriptions should expansion of local engagement practice. Leaving aside fundamental matters of political capable facilitators, process designers support the organisation’s and fiscal devolution, our research suggested some practical options that could help local and community organisers) who engage engagement aspirations, authorities alleviate these challenges in the short-term. regularly with local residents. specifying the skills that are required Staff capacity: From our research we have identified to successfully design and deliver • Specialist training in core engagement skills (such as group facilitation, process several factors that might help engagement participatory processes. Professional design and deep listening), while requiring up-front investment, will enable trained specialists to secure wide-ranging support development strategies and staff and/or residents to plan and facilitate more effective engagement, perhaps for participation and deliberation across performance benchmarks should saving public agencies money and time in the future. The distinctive skills required for an authority. The steps to achieving emphasise public engagement 26 running successful engagement can be embedded in a whole range of other activities, political buy-in, set out in challenge box 1, experience and skills. including internal comms, chairing meetings, brokering disagreements. may be complemented by the following • A ‘hub and spoke’ approach to considerations which are focused on internal communications, as one of • Distinguishing statutory consultation from ‘community empowerment’ organisations as a whole: our interviewees suggested, could frees up capacity for more facilitative, developmental and experimental work led by support inter-organisational advocacy. community empowerment specialists. • Single experiments should be In this model, an engagement hub is • Local authorities can build an inventory of different skills in their recognised for their potential supported by distributed engagement organisation to generate wider institutional champions, who relay vital information , through a process of competency mapping. Cross-referencing this data change. Engagement leaders should and knowledge between the core with job descriptions (see above) and training opportunities would enable (i) the proactively consider from the outset team and the different service areas. creation of more personalised career pathways and (ii) a more strategic approach to who could benefit from being involved It helps to consider which teams peer learning. in the planning process, what skills they might be instinctively averse to public • Local authorities should keep a record of community partners, backup could develop, how the learning from engagement (such as the finance staff, recent leavers and trained facilitators and volunteers who could bolster the process could be shared within the department or teams that preside over engagement skills and capacity in the organisation should bottlenecks occur. commissioning authority and how the traditionally more contentious services) Money: relationships staff build with residents and to proactively involve these groups can be maintained once the process in the process. It also helps for the • Staff should understand the resource-intensiveness of different engagement methods. has concluded. engagement hub to bring together This information could be included in a local charter or internal ordinance for public • Local authority staff should both policymakers and frontline staff. engagement (see above). Starting with expensive showpiece initiatives is not always understand where the Breaking down this hierarchy may the best option. engagement process fits in with enable community insights to percolate the organisation’s long-term upward through the organisation, • It may be possible for authorities to reprioritise or reallocate existing money (for instance, money previously spent on more cosmetic engagement processes or strategy. Working with staff and via frontline professionals who work underspends on capital projects). residents (especially from marginalised with and engage regularly with local communities) to establish a local communities. • Businesses, anchor institutions and philanthropists, locally and from further afield, charter for public engagement could • Peer-support networks can be may be open to supporting local authorities in their engagement efforts – see, for help to underpin a shared vision for set up between organisations to example, the partnership between Barking and Dagenham Council and the Lankelly engagement, including the principles facilitate the transfer of skills and Chase Foundation. that make engagement effective and knowledge. Communities of practice A key point that emerged from our conversations was the importance of establishing authentic, the resource-intensiveness for leadership development can be funding and support mechanisms that are not solely dependent on transient political of different engagement methods and helpful in identifying and supporting the will, or one-off budget commitments. Public authorities may want to consider how the the organisation’s long-term vision for trailblazers within authorities driving measures listed above could support the creation of more consolidated funding streams community engagement. This should the participatory agenda in their local and durable staff support. include practical information about the areas. important roles that local politicians,

26 One example is a job description created by the City of Santa Rosa, California. Available at: agency.governmentjobs.com/srcity/default. cfm?action=specbulletin&ClassSpecID=816665&headerfooter=0

28 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 29 Macro transitions

Corralling cross-organisational support coordinated and combined to Key recommendation • ‘Socialise’ the local authority’s vision for public engagement will be an create more of a common, coherent (or charter) for public engagement important and necessary step towards a local voice.27 The local system of Local authorities should work within the local community and canvass local place becoming more democratic engagement should amount to more with local partners to establish a feedback, hopefully over time enabling and participatory, but a system of local than the sum of its parts. Local Office for Public Engagement different service areas and local leaders participation will be far more vibrant and Innovation - a local democratic to coalesce around a shared vision. Our research has highlighted some and dynamic if it is supported by a range infrastructure body tasked with building encouraging examples of collaborative • Train a pool of local facilitators and of local organisations, networks and civic engagement into the fabric of participatory governance forms, including: 29 process designers. assets rather than simply the local and/or the area. Alongside permanent staff (administrators, network leaders, combined authority. There are two key i. In Bristol, where the One City researchers, practitioners) such an office reasons for this. Approach (which includes should include representation from the representatives from the education, 1 A more systemic approach to local authority and other local public sector VCSE, business and health sectors) engagement better reflects how organisations, major VCSE sector bodies formally received and welcomed the most people view the world and and educational institutions. Despite being recommendations from the recent could deliver more comprehensive a separate entity, the office should work Bristol Citizens’ Assembly. impact. Citizens don’t see the world very closely with community engagement as disconnected policy spheres ii. In North Ayrshire, where the leaders and networks in the local authority. and issues – their ideas cut across Community Planning Partnership has A Local Office for Public Engagement and organisational boundaries and been progressively reimagined as a Innovation could: levels. However, local participation key institution of local participatory opportunities can be disjointed budgeting. • Review process evaluation results to and siloed, channelled through iii. In Manchester, where, in 2018, an provide advice and recommendations separate institutions (including local ‘inverted citizens’ jury’ on home regarding continuous improvement of councils, schools, universities, VCSE care convened a cross section of engagement policies and practices. organisations, healthcare organisations, professionals, technical specialists and • Systematically map and strategically police forces and trade unions), each decision-makers to hear evidence from align democratic assets, civic with a limited remit to respond citizen witnesses, before collectively institutions and participatory comprehensively. While maintaining identifying and challenging the opportunities in the area (local clear accountability and responsibility professional siloes and institutional organisations, training programmes, for administering and responding to divides that might inhibit effective media institutions, youth clubs, online participatory initiatives, how can local action on the issue.28 forums, representative bodies, PTAs, authorities coordinate a more joined- CICs etc) and create stronger links up ecosystem of local governance that between formal decision-making could accommodate more holistic and engagement structures and the resident input and potentially deliver informal, community based networks more cross-sectoral impact? and spaces in which most people 2 A more systemic approach to par ticipate. local engagement could unlock • Serve as an information hub and resources and coordinate resident coordination mechanism to better input. With greater pooling of enable relevant local organisations to learning, resources and know-how, pool their resources, knowledge and local organisations could significantly skills in service of a more developed expand their engagement potential. participatory ecosystem. Residents could move more seamlessly between participation opportunities 28 For an example of a whole-system approach to mapping and combining in different sectors and contexts and different forms of engagement, see plans for an Observatory for Societal the outcomes of different participation Engagement with Energy, proposed by the 3S research group at the exercises could be better compared, University of East Anglia. Available at: ukerc.ac.uk/research/see/ 28 Shared Future CIC (2018), An Inquiry into the Challenge of Care at Home. Available at: jamandjustice-rjc.org/inverted-citizens%E2%80%99-inquiry- 29 This proposal is adapted from an earlier recommendation made in RSA care-home (2017). Citizens and Inclusive Growth. Available at: www.thersa.org/ globalassets/pdfs/reports/rsa_citizens-and-inclusive-growth-report.pdf

30 Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance 31 4

Conclusion

otwithstanding the huge challenges Covid-19 has created for local government, the past year has been one of rapid Nlearning and experimentation in local places. Public and VCSE sector bodies have rallied together, and promising innovations have emerged in all aspects of local CONCLUSION governance, from digital engagement and remote participation to service integration and cross-sector collaboration. This holds real promise for a more integrated and pluralistic approach to place-based governance in the future.30 But residents must be at the heart of any new local governance settlement. Our research has shown that with the right encouragement and support, residents can and should be active partners in local change, rather than passive subjects. As we slowly transition into a ‘new normal’ it is incumbent on local authorities and other major institutions to embrace and enable this shift to more empowering and ongoing public participation in local democracy. There is no ‘silver bullet’ approach to local participation, nor are there linear pathways to follow. Any local change process will be highly contextual and every local democracy is at a different stage of development. However, in this report, we have set out some general transitions and pragmatic guidance, principles, considerations and recommendations that, according to our research, can support local places on this journey. We hope the findings can be of practical use to anyone seeking to improve local democracy.

30 The RSA’s Future Change Framework offers one way of thinking about how we respond to crisis and how that can drive positive change: www. thersa.org/approach/future-change-framework

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Transitions to participatory democracy: how to grow public participation in local goverance