Case studies
Involve - Consultation on participation guidelines for the Home
Office
Context
Involve is a new initiative to investigate whether new forms of
public participation can strengthen Britain's democracy. A network
of some 600 individuals and over 200 organisations has been established
to draw on experience, expertise, learning and innovation.
In 2004 the Home Office Civil Renewal Unit commissioned Involve
to create a public participation guidance document to help people
understand more about the practical workings of participation,
so they can do it better, and provide a framework for assessing
different techniques so that people can collect their own evidence
about 'what works' for them in different circumstances.
Task
To gather comments on an early draft of the document, including
comment on the content and structure, and suggestions for case
studies.
Process
During the autumn of 2004 Involve ran a series of workshops around
the UK (Manchester, Newtown (Wales), Glasgow, and London), bringing
together participation practitioners and commissioners from different
sectors. These meetings revealed the need for input from a wide
range of people with extensive experience and expertise.
The draft document was divided into sections and placed on the
web within Dialogue by Design's Document Review software. Participants
commented on the text, section by section.
The document was then revised using these comments, and both
comments and the revised document were then posted on the website.
Participation
Some 200 people registered to participate in the online process
with 43 submitting detailed comments on the draft document.
Results
The document can be downloaded here
