CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English
  • Home
  • >
  • 🏛️ Blog
  • >
  • How to facilitate digital deliberation

How to facilitate digital deliberation

By Evy Beekers Civic Engagement, Civic Tech 27/05/2020
CitizenLab's Blog
  • Platform
  • Services
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Guides
  • About
  • Contact
  • Schedule a demo
  • English

The world has received a crash course in digital interaction and tools over the last couple of months. With social distancing as a catalyst for digital engagement, Civic Tech needs to invest in facilitating digital deliberation; a field that historically has not been its forte. But now is as good a time as any to change that!

The deliberative wave

Since multiple citizen assemblies contributed to solving complex policy issues, Civic Tech has been looking for ways to replicate these deliberative processes online. Deliberation is different from citizen participation as it aims to reach consensus by facilitating debate and discussion, whereas participation empowers citizens to take individual actions like voting or sharing ideas. Most online platforms facilitate these participative processes and even though this has resulted in reaching more citizens, deliberation is often hailed as more meaningful civic engagement.

“The design of citizens’ assemblies offers the best mechanism to (1) truly leverage collective intelligence, and (2) provide insight on what the population as a whole would think if they had the chance to learn about the issues at stake, hear different points-of-view, and discuss among themselves what the best policy option might be.”


Tiago C. Peixoto, Senior Public Sector Specialist at the World Bank
(read the full interview). 

Due to social distancing measures, councils can currently not turn to offline deliberation. It’s undeniable that this crisis has fast-forwarded digital deliberation initiatives, but it is important this is not only seen as a substitute. It should be seen as an opportunity to install more deliberative processes for policymaking.

How to surf

The quest of bringing deliberation online is, luckily, not a lonely one. Civic Tech is rapidly developing news tools, participation professionals are experimenting, and thought leaders are sharing relevant insights. The OECD, for instance, initiated an insightful Participo series to share learning, such as the 4 elements to consider when facilitating digital deliberation:

  • Timing: Synchronous or Asynchronous?
    Do you want the discussion to take place in real-time? Many governments have been experimenting with video workshops, e.g. via Jitsi, as it has the most potential to mimic offline town halls. Clearly there remain differences: citizens have a shorter concentration span online, making it necessary to complement the video discussion with interactive methods like break-out sessions or voting. Asynchronous communications, like online forums, miss this real-time interaction but do provide citizens with more time for reflection – and don’t necessarily require a stable internet connection.

  • Privacy: Identification or anonymity?
    Should participants be able to join the debate anonymously? Will this allow citizens to speak freely or create less trust within the discussion? In a video discussion, facilitating anonymity is not a desirable option, but for written deliberation, it is an option your council can consider.

  • (Written) Discussion: Conversation or visualisation?
    When citizens post messages these can be organised temporally, as is the case in video chats, which makes it challenging to navigate the discussion. There’s less overview in the debate compared to when ideas are organised topically, which is, for instance, done by Kialo (asynchronous) and Synthetron (synchronous); both tools focus on written deliberation.

  • Moderation: Human or machine?
    How will you moderate the discussion? Can someone from your team facilitate the discussion or will you rely on technology to analyse it afterwards? Digital deliberation provides the opportunity to utilize artificial intelligence such as natural language processing (NLP), which can cluster ideas and opinions at a large scale.

The current status

Despite the potential of digital deliberation has much potential, there are some challenges that still need to be tackled:

The digital divide
Unreliable internet connections or simply being uncomfortable with using new digital tools can exclude citizens from engaging. The digital divide and illiteracy should not withhold councils from investing in digital deliberation, yet they should so consciously. How?

  • Ensure there is always a way for citizens to contribute to the discussion asynchronously as well, for instance by filling out a survey, voting or sharing their proposals in advance – actions which are less dependent on stable WiFi.
  • Share documents clearly explaining the (technical) process in advance, or host pre-sessions to walk citizens through the technical settings.
  • Stick to one tool. It allows both civil servants and citizens to get used to the technical aspect and ensures learned lessons will remain relevant for future deliberations.

Moderation toothing troubles
While there is ample opportunity for technology to enrich the discussion, we’re still lacking experience it utilizing it to the fullest. Moderating digital deliberation, whether by civil servants or technology, takes practice – and experience. We need pioneers to experiment with the options we have today, to discover the solutions for tomorrow.

Curious for more tips & tricks? We hosted a webinar together with the Democratic Society, where we talked about online deliberation. Read our recap or view the full recording.

Tides are changing

Despite the challenges a wind of change is blowing: digital deliberation is here to stay. Therefore, CitizenLab has developed online citizen workshops, a feature that:

  • Hosts synchronous discussions via a secure video connection. During the workshops, you can decide to host plenary sessions, share relevant documents but also break-out in groups to discuss statements or topics more in detail.
  • Entails extra engagement methods. At break-out sessions, the debate does not only have to continue via video, but citizens can also write their ideas, and allow others to vote on them. Later on, ideas can also visually be categorized to understand common trends.
  • Allows workshops can be part of a larger participation timeline. As workshops are integrated into the participation platform (which also includes a variety of participation methods) it ensures there’s only one tool to master for both citizen and city.

Why did we develop this new feature? We see online citizen workshops as a long-term solution that will extend far beyond the days of social distancing. Taking your deliberation workshops online allows governments to reach a more diverse audience by being accessible from home. To assist civil servants in organizing deliberation workshops, we created a free guide that outlines the most important elements to take into account.

We’ll keep you posted on the developments and learnings of our online citizen workshop feature! Are you also experimenting with digital deliberation or eager to do so? Let’s talk!

You May Also Like

Inspiring platforms
Civic Engagement 05/01/2023
Community engagement examples: December’s inspiring platforms
Measure effectiveness engagement platform metrics
Civic Engagement 05/12/2022
What to measure to understand the effectiveness of your community engagement platform
Inspiring platforms
Civic Engagement 23/11/2022
Community engagement examples: November’s inspiring platforms
tips quality idea crowdsourcing
Civic Engagement 17/11/2022
4 tips for launching quality idea crowdsourcing projects
October Inspiring Platforms
Civic Engagement 25/10/2022
Community engagement examples: October’s inspiring platforms
Written By
Evy Beekers

Content Manager at CitizenLab - Passionate about storytelling, sustainability, and cinema.

Solutions
  • All solutions
  • Strategy & Budgeting
  • Planning & Public Spaces
  • Environment & Sustainability
  • Mobility & Infrastructure
  • Neighborhoods & Community Development
Platform
  • Platform features
  • Services
  • Plans
  • Schedule a demo
Academy
  • Resources
  • Blog
Company
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Partners
Get in touch
  • +44 79 2676 4670
  • +1 530 270 3403
  • Contact form
© 2022 CitizenLab: Community Engagement Platform. All rights reserved.
By clicking “Accept”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga2 yearsThe _ga cookie, installed by Google Analytics, calculates visitor, session and campaign data and also keeps track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognize unique visitors.
_gid1 dayInstalled by Google Analytics, _gid cookie stores information on how visitors use a website, while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the data that are collected include the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie is used to record the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category .
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
CookieLawInfoConsent1 yearRecords the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie.
geot_rocket_citysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_countrysessionNo description available.
geot_rocket_statesessionNo description available.
PHPSESSIDsessionThis cookie is native to PHP applications. The cookie is used to store and identify a users' unique session ID for the purpose of managing user session on the website. The cookie is a session cookies and is deleted when all the browser windows are closed.
STYXKEY_geot_countrysessionNo description
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
bcookie2 yearsLinkedIn sets this cookie from LinkedIn share buttons and ad tags to recognize browser ID.
langsessionLinkedIn sets this cookie to remember a user's language setting.
lidc1 dayLinkedIn sets the lidc cookie to facilitate data center selection.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_gat_gtag_UA_65562281_11 minuteSet by Google to distinguish users.
_gcl_au3 monthsProvided by Google Tag Manager to experiment advertisement efficiency of websites using their services.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded youtube-videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
undefinedneverWistia sets this cookie to collect data on visitor interaction with the website's video-content, to make the website's video-content more relevant for the visitor.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
_fbp3 monthsThis cookie is set by Facebook to display advertisements when either on Facebook or on a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising, after visiting the website.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysA cookie set by YouTube to measure bandwidth that determines whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYSC cookie is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the video preferences of the user using embedded YouTube video.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverThis cookie, set by YouTube, registers a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
intercom-id-p4lr69wg8 months 26 days 1 hourNo description
intercom-session-p4lr69wg7 daysNo description
loglevelneverNo description available.
trx_addons_is_retina1 yearThis cookie is used for checking if the user has a retina display.
wp-wpml_current_languagesessionNo description available.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
CookieDurationDescription
AMP_TOKEN1 hourThis cookie is set by Google Analytics and contains a token that can be used to retrieve a Client ID from AMP Client ID service. Other possible values indicate opt-out, inflight request or an error retrieving a Client ID from AMP Client ID service.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo

Please share your location to continue.

Check our help guide for more info.

share your location