Dilemmas discussed

DELIBERATIVE PRACTICES FOR COUNCILS - WHERE TO START

DELIBERATIVE PRACTICES FOR COUNCILS - WHERE TO START

As Victorian local councils face a local government election on October 24th and the induction of a new Council they are also implementing a new Local Government Act. Amongst the myriad of changes in the 2020 Act are new provisions for community engagement. This is a major step change in seeking to put communities at the centre of local government decision making.

Many councils would be wondering what they need to do meet these requirements, particularly the one about deliberative practices.

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: 'HOSTILE' AUDIENCES (PART 2)

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: 'HOSTILE' AUDIENCES (PART 2)

Late last year we published the first post in a two-part series on dealing with this ‘subscriber dilemma’. In part one we explored how to plan for conflict, outrage and emotion when you know it’s likely to arise. Today, in part two, we’re providing 10 tips for working with high emotion in the moment – when you didn’t expect or plan for it at all.

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: ‘HOSTILE’ AUDIENCES & HIGH EMOTION

DILEMMA DISCUSSED:  ‘HOSTILE’ AUDIENCES & HIGH EMOTION

This post tackles a big, scary dilemma – conflict, outrage and emotion.  We’re often asked for advice around this topic, because it’s something that worries many people in the engagement space -  even experienced practitioners and facilitators.

Partly, this fear is underpinned by a lack of ‘tools’ or skills. So, we’re going to give you some tips to help you prepare for and/or work with conflict, outrage and emotion in a meaningful way. 

Because it’s a big, difficult topic, we’re going to address it in two parts:  Part one (this post) is about how to plan for it, and in part two (next month) we’ll talk about what to do if you walk into it unexpectedly.   

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: REPRESENTATIVE VIEWS

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: REPRESENTATIVE VIEWS

Today, with the help of a few guest experts, we’re responding to a subscriber participation dilemma.  It’s an issue that has been put forward by several subscribers to our e-newsletter the Discussion as their ‘biggest community engagement challenge’.

Today’s challenge is representative views: how to ensure you’re hearing from people that are proportional to and reflective of the wider community or stakeholders you’re trying to engage with. 

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: MIXED LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE

DILEMMA DISCUSSED: MIXED LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE

We’re committed to sharing our learnings, contributing to the practice of quality engagement and supporting others to improve their engagement skills wherever we can. 

As part of this commitment, today we’re responding to an engagement challenge put forward by one of the subscribers to our e-newsletter The Discussion. The issue this subscriber is facing is: 'Engaging with people when there is a mixed level of knowledge about a subject. ‘