Jul 4, 2014 | Community Engagement, Deliberative, Local government, Participatory budgeting
Citizens juries are a site of adult learning. A common juror response is: There is masses of information coming in! Organisers need to be aware of information overload. At the end jurors always say: We learned so much. There is a big increase in understanding about...
Jun 17, 2014 | Community Engagement, Deliberative, Participatory budgeting, Terms of reference
When you’re putting in the effort to hold a participatory budgeting jury or any citizen jury, you want it to be the best jury possible. The role of the jurors is at the heart of this. Apart from pulling out all stops with catering, what considerations should...
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...
Apr 16, 2014 | Arts and placemaking, Community Engagement, People, place & governance, Planning, Sustainability, Urban green space, Walking, Waste
Don’t you love autumn? It’s the perfect time for another Jane’s Walk Melbourne! Join me for a Very Public Doddlejot through the CBD on Saturday 3rd May. If you’re a bit puzzled by jotting, or doddling and want to get a feel for the kind of walk...
Feb 28, 2014 | Community Engagement, Deliberative, People, place & governance
The pic featured on this blog is the opening slide of a presentation I gave to a VLGA forum ‘Community engagement in Local Government, where have we been, where are we going?’ in March 2014. So here’s a classic piece of graffiti on public interest...
Dec 19, 2013 | Collaborating, It's cultural!
Winding down to the break is fun, crossing off things that need to be done to wrap up the gift of the year 2013! Have a great break. So I’m looking forward to lying low, watching DVDs, eating chocolate and watching the grass grow. I’m a sucker for rock...
Dec 3, 2013 | Collaborating, Food, Health, People, place & governance, Stakeholder engagement
What kind of change do you see when good stakeholder alliances are at work? A recent Food Alliance gathering heard from Kindling Trust Manchester’s Chris Walsh. He said their alliance has enabled: Generation of detailed technical knowledge and evidence...
Dec 3, 2013 | Arts and placemaking, Community Engagement, It's cultural!, Joint effort - climate adaptation, Stakeholder engagement, Sustainability, Tech tools for engagement, Waste
Councils in Melbourne build community support through engagements across many areas of council business. Arts and sustainability for example. The opening of ‘Small Worlds’ exhibition at Footscray Library last week demonstrated Maribyrnong City...
Nov 28, 2013 | Community Engagement, Planning, Public transport, Stakeholder engagement, Sustainability
As a community and stakeholder engagement professional I’m attracted to notices advertising stakeholder engagement activities and inviting feedback. I’m a public transport user and was waiting 35 minutes for a bus one weekend in September when visiting ...
Nov 22, 2013 | Joint effort - climate adaptation, People, place & governance, Planning, Sustainability, Urban green space
New York’s Highline is a magnificent urban green space. Here’s my favourite planting. Did you know Sydney has an 1854 rail line between Broadway and Darling Harbour? Now the city is looking to develop its Goods Line, linking key locations and increasing...
