North West Local Health Integration Network (LHIN):
Ontario hired Ascentum to provide them a high quality online consultation initiative in order to involve their local communities in setting up a care plan for the future of the region. This resulted in the creation of Choicebook™ which empowered citizens to host their own dialogue on local health and share stories, ideas and solutions with each other, health professions and the local government (Ascentum, 2009).
Successes:
Over 800 people across Northwest Ontario took part in the consultation which was a significant proportion of the population. The consultation allowed the public and LHIN to learn about patients and health professionals experiences with the Northwest Ontario healthcare system, and helped to identify clear and agreed-upon values and priorities for the LHIN’s future provision of healthcare. The data collected by the LHIN was straightforward, diverse and highly relevant to the issue at hand and allowed them to improve their service provision. This system won the 2009 International Association for Public Participation award for Innovation of the Year (Ascentum, 2009).
What to take from this example:
Leading consultation allows for citizens to engage with not only local government but each other on their own terms. The LHIN succeeded because it provided citizens with the opportunity to foster both internal and external efficacy. By allowing citizens to share their stories and ideas, have them discussed by both local government and other citizens and then provide for an open and transparent decision-making process, citizens not only knew why a decision was made, but also felt ownership over that decision. Successful consultation allows for more than just information sharing- it allows for the creation of shared experiences and identity through the personalisation of the process.
Applicability to Auckland youth:
Auckland youth are technologically savvy, connected to the internet and eager to share their ideas and opinions with others as revealed by their significant use of social networking sites (Shand et al., 2009). The Auckland City Council should provide for consultation that incorporates the best aspects of social networking and allows youth greater control over what they share and how they share it.
Consultation can take the forms of wiki’s, blogs or social networking services and attempt to be more ‘open sourced’ and citizen-controlled as long as it operates within the framework and guidelines put in place by the council to ensure that the consultation is relevant and useful. It is important to remember that not every issue will be of importance to all young people but that is not an excuse to limit their ability to consult with local government on it. Because online consultation is significantly less resource draining that offline consultation (both in terms of time and money) (see: Accenture, 2007; Johnson et al., 1998; Lukensmeyer and Torres, 2006), local government benefits, while young people are more likely to take part as they can drop in and out of the consultation at their leisure unimpeded by time or location (Mossberger et al., 2007).
Further examples:
Western Australia’s ‘CitizenScape’ programme which engaged Aboriginal Western Australian’s in consultation 2004
The White House (US) Open Government Dialogue which provided citizens with extensive opportunities to consult government
Moreland City Council’s extensive consultation hub
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