Governments around the world are facing low trust levels from the public. To remedy this and innovate for a 21st-century democracy, they should focus on building a culture of engagement.
I believe in a democracy that is free and fair, participatory and inclusive, and built for the 21st century. And while I see daily steps of progress towards that vision in my work as Co-Founder of CitizenLab, I often find myself humbled by the reality of how little trust exists between the people and their governments, going both ways. Just recently, the University of Antwerp released a worrying report in which they shared that one-third of survey respondents didn’t believe Belgium to be a democracy. And while that hits particularly close to home since CitizenLab was founded in Belgium, this isn’t a symptom only felt across Belgian communities. It’s the result of people not feeling like their voices matter, and governments being too afraid to share decision-making power or deeming the public as not having the expertise to engage.
But this skepticism is only seeding deeper trust issues. According to the Observatory of Public Sector Innovation’s latest global trends in government innovation findings, just over four in ten people trust their national government. Add to that the fact that half of the respondents to OECD’s Trust Survey stated that the political system does not let them have a say in government decisions, and we have a recipe for catastrophically low trust and participation.
But what if that didn’t have to be the reality? What if I told you that more – and better – community engagement is a big part of the solution? What could a different, more trust-filled future look like then?
A vision for a better democracy
Community engagement is the key to building back trust between communities and their governments, and yet many public servants are still apprehensive about delving into deeper engagement and the public is still wary of whether participating will have any impact. I’ve had the chance to have conversations with many public servants and community members about their fears, and can say that many of the misconceptions about community engagement stem from the days when engaging with residents was limited to in-person participation. However, community engagement has become more accessible, efficient, and valuable than ever, thanks to the rise of digital participation platforms and more experience with offline and online methods.
It’s clear that the status quo of governance is not serving the people. And while progress has been made, it’s time for public servants to rally towards new horizons.
Given that, what does the future of engagement look like? It includes institutionalizing participation, and embedding it in the culture of our institutions. It also means working across the participation ladder, so that we use surveys and polls when most appropriate, but that we also move past them and into the more collaborative and empowering methods of participatory governance more often. In that process, it also means creating the space to intentionally hear from many more people, because representation matters and a project’s results are only as accurate as the diversity of its participants. This more inclusive, participatory, and responsive democracy is possible.
The steps towards a more participatory and responsive democracy
Since 2015, I have had the pleasure of supporting over 400 local governments and organizations from CitizenLab’s global network to develop a culture of engagement in their communities. Their progress in achieving more participatory decision-making can teach other communities about the core steps needed to develop a sustainable culture of engagement.
Here are the three pillars of building a culture of engagement:
1. Ambition from elected officials and management
The importance of leadership’s support for a culture of engagement cannot be overstated. When elected officials prioritize engagement with their communities, they can inspire the administration and set the tone – and allocation of resources – to support meaningful community engagement. A true culture of engagement revolves around trust — a two-way street that requires governments to have faith in their communities just as much as communities need to have faith in their leaders.
Sometimes we even see community engagement projects conducted with an underlying lack of trust in the community’s ability to contribute meaningfully, such as through tokenistic surveys or insubstantial consultation events. The harm of that is that it puts people off from participating in future projects, as they don’t see the benefits of contributing their time and ideas. The essence of community engagement lies in treating residents not just as passive recipients of policy, but as active contributors. When governments not only listen but also trust their communities enough to involve them in decision-making, they send a strong message: your voice is valuable and your insights matter. This form of proactive, deep engagement will lead to reciprocal trust and create a virtuous cycle.
One example of strong leadership that I want to call on here is that of the City of Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. Danene Sorace, the Mayor of the City of Lancaster, and her team at the Department of Neighborhood Engagement made community engagement a central part of their approach to local governance from the start. By prioritizing four key areas – strong neighborhoods, sound government, safe places, and a sustainable economy – they were able to rally their engagement efforts around concrete goals.
The results spoke for themselves and today, as Milzy Carrasco, Director of Community Engagement for the City of Lancaster, puts it: “Engagement has gone from something we should do to something we have to do.”
2. Strong internal organization
To create and sustain a culture of engagement, good internal organization is imperative. This can be especially challenging for local governments, where departments often operate independently of one another. To remedy the issues that stem from that – such as information not being shared, duplication of efforts, and differing priorities and timelines – organizations should work to break down silos and encourage cross-departmental collaboration. This can be done through a range of change management strategies such as more transparently sharing goals and objectives, or creating a standardized engagement strategy to be used across departments.
While I recognize that this is much easier said than done, there are successes that we can build on. For instance, the Netherlands’ Municipality of Den Helder didn’t have a dedicated community engagement department, but they didn’t let that stop them from engaging their residents. They set up a working group with representatives from different teams – from management to the environmental department and communications team – that meets every two weeks.
Steven de Groot, their digital community engagement platform manager, shared that, “Through this method, we’ve found we could switch quickly between departments and, at the same time, create ambassadors everywhere who can propose projects and make the community engagement platform known among colleagues who do not participate in the working group.”
3. Skills and resources
It’s important to invest in your team’s capabilities and provide them with the tools they need to foster meaningful connections with the community. For instance, having a clear process for choosing which engagement method is best for the specific type of project you want to run or for the results you want to achieve is key. Once the strategy is drafted, you’ll have to ensure that your team is equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to communicate the project to expand visibility and drive registrations. Throughout a project, your team should also have the time and resources to continuously engage with the community, and after the project, they should be similarly supported to ensure follow-up communications, analysis, and reporting.
Recognizing the challenges governments often face in allocating time and resources for specialized training or hiring seasoned professionals, connection with peers doing similar work is important. This helps ensure public servants are not reinventing the wheel, but capitalizing on a wealth of knowledge from peers to apply innovation more quickly and effectively. A network like CitizenLab’s community is a good example of a dynamic learning environment. While each government has unique setups and needs, opportunities such as community sessions, in which our clients can share what has worked for them and what didn’t – and learn from each other – are one way forward towards this upskilling.
A culture of engagement leads to greater trust
When governments and organizations are transparent and open to feedback, their community members are more likely to trust that their leaders are working in their best interest. As a result of this increased trust, community members are more likely to support decisions, participate actively in making their community a better place for all, and lead to better overall satisfaction.
It’s clear that the status quo of governance is not serving the people. And while progress has been made, it’s time for public servants to rally towards new horizons and better outcomes for their communities, starting with building in more participatory mechanisms and a culture of engagement.
Want to get started? Download Part 1 and Part 2 of our Handbook “Building a Culture of Engagement” now!
This article was originally published on Apolitical.