Sep 21, 2015 | Advisory committee, Citizen committees, Community Governance, Local government, People, place & governance, Planning, Terms of reference
When you’re a council searching for a workable, enduring approach to place-based governance, it’s too easy to find yourself back where you started. In research on community governance I learned there’s no one way, no right way. Every place expresses itself...
Aug 7, 2015 | Deliberative, It's cultural!, Planning
As a bike rider, I’m impressed by the force of the road. As a designer and facilitator of citizens’ juries, I enjoy thinking about complexity, multiple interests and power. I don’t think there’s a citizens’ jury on the force of the road coming up any time soon. But...
Jul 7, 2015 | Citizens' juries, Deliberative, Local government, Participatory budgeting, Planning
How many times have you heard this old maxim? They don’t know what local government does. A maxim does express a general truth, but the good news is you can disrupt the general truth from time to time, to make the most of great opportunities. Disruptive...
Jun 23, 2015 | Citizens' juries, Deliberative, Local government, Participatory budgeting, Planning
You want to be sure it’s the right decision to run a participatory budgeting jury. It’s a big thing. You want the stars to be aligned, in all the constellations: the senior executive team, the councillors and managers. They may be champions of the approach...
Sep 10, 2014 | Local government, People, place & governance, Planning, Public transport, Walking
Bikes go hand in hand with the social enterprise focus of Donkey Wheel House. In 2013, City of Melbourne developed plans to improve Godfrey Street. It’s a little street that runs alongside Donkey Wheel at the Southern Cross end of town. At Hub Melbourne we saw...
May 28, 2014 | Community Engagement, Participatory budgeting, People, place & governance, Planning
I’m sure that if there isn’t a book out there called ‘Participatory Budgeting for Dummies’, there soon will be! This increasingly popular approach involves the public in decisions about public budgets. It’s been used in countries such as...
