Summary
On the 11th of November 2021, the Risk Dialogue Foundation and the Canton of Zurich took a first step at the impulse day “Participation in Practice” to strengthen the participation of tomorrow through more exchange and joint learning from successes and failures. Participation experts and interested people came together to dare to look beyond their own horizons, to share their own experiences and to discuss. The following are the main theses and findings of the day:
The quality of participatory formats depends largely on how well the goal matches the method used
Time and resources for recruiting marginalized groups and a lot of communication work are central to the comprehensive activation of target groups
Honesty, transparency, trust and appreciation are key social success components
Early informal participation strengthens the acceptance and sustainability of decisions and enables participation for all people.
Participatory processes and exchanges with people from very different milieus help to broaden one’s own horizons, to get to know and listen to other realities, and thus to break up polarization spirals.
In order to maintain the valuable exchange launched at this conference in the future, all interested parties are invited to join the LinkedIn group “Netzwerk Partizipation”:
Best practices from different participation worlds at the impulse day “Participation practical”.
Sharing experiences, learning new things and building a network. These were the three goals that we – the Risk Dialogue Foundation and the Directorate of Justice and Home Affairs of the Canton of Zurich – set ourselves for the “Participation in Practice” impulse day on November 11, 2021.
Today, participation is very important in many places and participative formats are becoming more and more popular. Be it spatial or project planning, democratic innovations and e-participation or co-creation of products and services in the public and private sector. Such formats allow the involvement of the population, stakeholders, users or other specific target groups in the design of projects, processes or decisions with the aim of strengthening the quality, acceptance and sustainability of the results. Many of the concepts have been known for a long time from research and practice, but it is only their implementation in practice that shows impact. The Impulse Day is a prelude to networking actors from the various sub-areas, such as political participation, project participation or inclusion of specific target groups, and to highlighting best practices.
People don’t always want to be involved in decision-making, but often just want to be listened to.
In the morning of the event, the participants focused more on conceptual and theoretical issues around participation. Prof. Dr. Anna Kern, assistant professor at Ghent University in Belgium, gave the first keynote address. She highlighted from a research perspective the challenge that the quality of participatory formats depends on how well the goal matches the method used. The goal also does not always have to be active co-decision-making in the process, but depending on the scope and target group, it is sometimes enough to listen to perspectives, take them seriously, and explore possibilities for integration together. From her point of view, it is also important that not only a “participatory elite” takes part and that the question of whether the results of participatory processes should be binding is clarified. According to studies, this is not always expected, which was surprising for the audience at first glance. Especially with regard to the involvement of the broad masses, it is indispensable for an inclusive process to spend time and resources on recruiting marginalized groups and to do a lot of communication work. We often experience that the same “participatory elite” always participates in participatory processes.
High consistency of different concepts
The aim of the morning was also to exchange between different contexts on which conceptual foundations the participatory work is based. Therefore, in an interactive workshop setting, speakers from a wide variety of organizations then presented their approaches (see list below). Not surprisingly, one innovation focus was on the use of digital opportunities. This goes further than the transfer of analog resources into the digital world. For example, data enables a more nuanced picture of opinion to be drawn, and discussion can directly contrast individual aspects and partial arguments. It was often emphasized, however, that only a combination of on- and offline formats can show success.
Matthias Holenstein, moderator of the event and managing director of the Risk Dialog Foundation, summarized key contributions from the morning: Many processes have to face the question, “What is participation, what is not?” Also, almost without exception, all face the challenge of proactively and effectively activating target groups and supporting adequate expectations. Success factors of participatory processes are not only resources, communication services, ensuring compatibility of goals and methods, but also especially social competencies of all participants: honesty and transparency, trust and appreciation. The common goal of the event, to provide best practice, is widely supported. With this positive mindset, the morning ended and the participants continued to exchange ideas during lunch.
Participation against polarization
In the afternoon, Jacqueline Fehr, President of the Zurich government, made an inspiring start. Although we already have a lot of opportunities to have a say here in direct-democratic Switzerland, there is still great potential in the early involvement and participation of people in the development of projects. It is central that this takes place when there are still opportunities for influence. This not only increases acceptance and viability of decisions, but also enables political participation for all people – with and without voting rights, with and without access to institutionalized politics. As an example, she presents the citizen panel project in Uster, where 20 randomly selected citizens, representative of the population of Uster, spent two weekends developing ideas and recommendations for climate protection measures in Uster. A pioneer project that moves. One participant in this panel commented that “she had been heard for the first time in her life”. Jacqueline Fehr emphasized an additional effect that was also evident in Uster. The format brought together very different people who would otherwise probably hardly exchange ideas. This helps to broaden one’s own horizons, to know and listen to other realities – and thus to break up polarization spirals. Dare to look beyond one’s own nose – this is also one of the aims of this event.
Are there losers in participatory processes and how do we deal with them?
In the afternoon forum, Dr. Jeannette Behringer, Executive Director of the Forum Democracy and Ethics, and Matthias Holenstein, expert for participation, discussed risky projects. Céline Colombo, Project Manager Participation at the Canton of Zurich, moderated the discussion and asked specifically about success factors and to what extent the framework conditions and opportunities change over time. Jeannette Behringer emphasized that – to put it simply – a good process succeeds when all those involved are satisfied with the process and the results. Matthias Holenstein adds that it is unrealistic, particularly in the case of risky projects such as infrastructure projects, that everyone is always completely satisfied with the negotiated results. It is important to pay special attention to these “losers” and to take their needs into account, for example by integrating them more closely into other projects. This is also an element against polarization. It is also important to take account of social developments, for example the changed world view of younger generations, who demand more resilient solutions and a step-by-step approach with try-and-error.
Many worlds of participation – continuing to benefit from other experiences
Interactive sessions in the afternoon provided insights into innovative participation projects from different worlds (see overview below). The participants experienced many ideas and had exciting discussions. They also took turns to create a participatory Rich Picture where they tried to visualize the “participation heaven” and the “participation hell”.
The exchange of experiences on this impulse day could only succeed thanks to the manifold committed contributions. This was also the intention of the day. Thanks to all! The votes and the mood at the end clearly showed that the Impulse Day was a successful starting point for advancing participation and innovation together and learning from each other beyond project boundaries and target groups. On the one hand, the discussion and exchange around good examples and principles will be continued digitally. To this end, everyone is invited to join the LinkedIn group “Netzwerk Partizipation” with content and information on the topic of participation. It is deliberately also open to other people who were unable to attend the conference. The Risk Dialogue Foundation is also planning to launch a website next year, where these experiences and existing foundations will be made widely visible. Interested parties can also contact us directly at any time (anna-lena.koeng@risiko-dialog.ch). We look forward to shaping the future together!