I spent a hugely inspiring and energising time in Stockholm last week. I was there at the invitation of the Swedish Association of Local Government and Regions to take part in their e-Participation Summit. For me it was a real demonstration of collaborative thinking and the ideas and energy in the group made it one [...]
If there was one sound bite that stood out for me at the last Translation Layer event, it was Stef Gray’s ‘policy is written by those who show up’. If that’s the case (and it’s hard to argue against it) then the job for all of us concerned with democracy and engagement is simple… get [...]
There’s an interesting discourse around the exposure of Bell Pottinger’s shameful behaviour, which shows excellent work from the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. On the one side stand the majority of us, ordinary people and those who believe in the power of democracy. On the other there’s a small elite group of people who will be [...]
I’ve been impressed with the way 38 Degrees has given grass-roots campaigning a bit of a nudge lately. But their latest campaign is a case study in how not to do it. It’s patronising, doomed to failure and guaranteed to get people off side. Why? First of all, it’s a petulant knee-jerk reaction. Never a [...]
MPs are treating the new e-Petitions system (and therefore the people that sign them) with little more than lip-service, verging on contempt. I’ve argued that successful petitioning systems have absolutely nothing to do with technology – although the internet does lower barriers and make the public process easier – they are about having an effective [...]
‘Community informatics doesn’t have much theory’… well, actually it does, it’s just that practitioners don’t call it that. Practice is (or feels) more instinctive, more intuitive. But if theory does exist (and we know it does) how does practice inform the organic development of it and the creation of new theoretical models? What roles does [...]
