Citizen Insight Councils
In an effort to hear from as many people and different perspectives as possible, the City of Victoria partnered with Wise Democracy Victoria, a local non-profit group, to facilitate two Citizen Insight Council discussion groups in May and June 2010. Some members of the group met again with staff in June 2011.
Similar to focus groups, the Citizen Insight Councils brought together a group of randomly selected Victoria citizens to address questions central to the Official Community Plan update. But unlike focus groups, which tend to gauge reactions and feelings on specific scenarios, the goal of the Citizen Insight Councils was for members to develop guidance and suggestions to ‘big picture’ questions central to the Official Community Plan.
The youngest participant was in their 20s and the oldest in their 90s.
Topics addressed:
- Public Engagement
- Transportation
- Water and shoreline management
- Affordable housing and support services
- Land use management and urban design
The Citizen Insight Council process is based on a format created by the Centre for Wise Democracy, an internationally recognized organization that helps to develop creative solutions for citizen engagement. Similar approaches to citizen engagement have been successful in communities in the United States and Europe. Wise Democracy Victoria facilitators have been trained by the Centre for Wise Democracy founder Jim Rough. This is the first time the City of Victoria has tried this approach with citizen engagement.
For more information about the Centre for Wise Democracy visit www.wisedemocracy.org
