I met Rob Carolane, a community engagement facilitator at the Victorian Facilitation Network’s professional development day this week. My facilitation speciality is deliberative processes. He was excited – he’d recently been a volunteer table facilitator at a ‘climate jury’ run by the Department for Sustainability and Environment in Wangaratta, facilitated by Kath Fisher. ‘Local Voices’ was aimed at influencing the local council.
Rob’s firm wanted to support the event, and for a staff member to experience a deliberative process in action. At the start he was concerned that the jury might not come up with a judgement that would be acceptable to the local council.
‘I thought there might be a mismatch, and that the recommendations wouldn’t be realistic enough, meaty enough’.
‘A high point was when Council’s senior management, received the Jury’s recommendations. The CEO and Director of Sustainability were present “We ask you to act courageously,” the jury began, delivering a powerful human message. The Council embraced their work.
‘I also found one of the younger juror’s responses in the evaluation phase moving. I’d wondered what impact the jury had had on him. He simply said “I’ve known about climate change. I’ve been avoiding it.” He was no longer afraid.’
Rob feels climate change is very real for people in regional areas. The impact of the drought and the fires have created a sense of crisis, and of coming up against the limitation of resources like water. That region had three major fire episodes between 2003 and 2009, where fire had previously been seen as a once in sixty year event. He found himself feeling protective of the jurors at one point, thinking that a very full-on presentation on Climate Science would be too much for the jurors. But this was his own fear.
‘Everyone is in uncertain territory when it comes to climate change and the strength of the process was that it allowed people to consider powerful and complex information in a focused way. They then had the opportunity to put practical solutions forward to people in a position to take real action. It seemed the jurors felt empowered and the council felt supported to take action for the communities interest.’