Future engagement skills – the same but different?

It’s a cynical world out

there

2

Complexity Cultivates Cynics

• In an open and connected communications landscape, technology has freed citizens to seek their own truth… and create it

• Rising education levels mean people have more knowledge about issues and so more scepticism

• The growing complexity of decisions means it is becoming more difficult to predict the outcome to plans and strategies

• Councils and communities are continually in a state of flux (restructuring, migration)

• Then there’s history … political turnarounds and bad decisions, global financial crisis, rise in corporate fraud, politicians indiscretions… all highly publicised

3

The basis of citizen engagement in council

decision making? • Citizen’s involvement is generally reactive • A citizen’s real experience in involvement relates

to protecting their own or immediate community interest.

• Citizens have difficulty maintaining participation efforts, often relying on a few

• Citizens are largely unaware and uninterested in the limitations of council roles and responsibilities

4

Citizens’ perception of council consultation

2007 research by the Department of Internal Affairs found that citizens typically think that councils either have no intention of listening, or show that they have not listened - thinking decisions were already made by councillors and

business mates - seeing councils making decisions counter to popular views

- finding the timing or length of consultation was a barrier

to participation My 2009 research agreed - submitters were most dissatisfied by the feedback step in the consultation and council decisions.  Trust and confidence levels are directly linked to how responsive councils are to public input on key issues.

5

Trust and confidence levels are directly linked to how responsive councils are to public input

on key issuesRecent amendments to the LGA2002 have done little to improve the key weakness in our consultation process requirements …. responsiveness

• Hypothesis : Relaxing the requirement to directly inform the community and submitters of consultation decisions will have a lasting negative effect on council/community relationships because feedback and actively explaining decisions is a cornerstone to satisfaction and ongoing positive council-community relationships

6

The need for trust

• The need for trust is a natural response to the growing power of government and the professions

• Trust and confidence levels are directly linked to how

responsive councils are to public input on key issues.

• Conversely distrust is a very lucid and rational response to encounters with distrustful governance

7

Bureaucracy is a poor playmate of democracy

Feedback, explanations, responsiveness … empowerment

If councils are serious about wanting their communities to trust their decisions, they need to trust their communities to make decisions.

How is your council fostering trust?