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Evaluating Your Consultation: What Constitutes “Success”?
Friday, August 20th, 2010

Has my consultation initiative been successful? Here’s one question that we are bound to confront with every project… Before you launch into the mechanics of your evaluation though, take a moment to reflect on the following three questions – and in each case, “peel back the onion” to seek the answer behind the obvious answer…

1. What are the drivers behind the engagement process?
For example, a process may be driven by “an obligation to consult”, versus an honest desire to do so. Understanding the true drivers of your consultation, even if they are not always as “noble” as you would wish them to be, is key if you are to contextualize it appropriately.

2. What constitutes “success”?
This may not always be as obvious as one would think. For example, a high participation rate may create an illusion of success for the sponsor, but if the quality of the experience is found lacking, then can we say it was truly successful? Are the tangible outcomes (e.g., influencing the policy process) more or less important than the intangible ones (e.g., educating participants on the issue or mending relationships)?

3. A “successful” process… according to whom?
We tend to evaluate processes based on the perspectives of either the process sponsor or the process participants. A good evaluation should in fact assess the process from the perspective of the participants, the sponsor, and if relevant, significant third parties who may be affected by or who may affect the process (e.g., the media).

- Manon Abud -



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Crowdsourcing: 5 Reasons Why It’s Here to Stay
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

From designing marketing campaigns to vetting brand ideas to solving customer service-related issues and shaping new government services, crowdsourcing is a dynamic tool being used ever increasingly by companies to solve some of their most quizzical quandaries. First coined by journalist Jeff Howe in a June 2006 Wired article, the term crowdsourcing can be described as the process by which the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats that were once the domain of an elite few.

L’Oreal, Sony and Toyota have all embraced the preeminence of crowdsourcing, using it to help them generate new ideas for ad campaigns. Mountain Dew has been inviting soft drink enthusiasts to help “shape the flavor, colour, name, logo, and design of the next Mountain Dew” through its crowdsourcing tool Dewmocracy.  And in one novel project, a 23-year-old man is using crowdsourcing to navigate the dating world by attempting to go on 30 dates in 30 days,  while taking cues from Twitter and Facebook as to how to proceed on each (http://mashable.com/2010/07/12/dating-brian/).

It looks as though crowdsourcing is here to stay – here are 5 reasons why:

  1. It grants access to a diverse range of ideas without a lot of investment – The technology makes it possible to unite large numbers of people who will share several ideas at a relatively stable cost. Time spent collecting data through formal focus groups or market research can also be heavily reduced by using this tool as a creative alternative.
  2. Messaging stands a greater chance of being relevant and authentic – Since the people engaged in the process will likely have a stake in the outcome, the input generated by the community will resonate with the voice of the end user. Also through the selection of people and breadth of ideas, this tool increases the odds of finding something of value.
  3. Crowdsourcing tools are engaging – Whether a person submits her/his own content and ideas or chooses to rate others’ ideas, they are an integral part of the creative process.
  4. It lowers the risk of new product and service introductions – The risks associated with uncertain marketplace demand for a new product / service can be evaluated by inviting participants to comment on what they think should be included.
  5. It builds relationships – Like many social networking tools, crowdsourcing is ultimately a means of connecting with people with similar interests, exchanging ideas, and cultivating lifelong bonds.

-Cassandra Tavares



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The Census Debate: An Opportunity for Public Dialogue…
Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Over the past few weeks, there has been a great debate in Canada on the role of the census, and what form it should take – a short, widely-distributed version or a longer, less widely-distributed version – and whether completion should be mandatory or voluntary.

Those supporting a mix of a shorter, mandatory version combined with a voluntary longer version posit that the existing mandatory long form is an invasion of privacy and that it is coercive to force Canadians to complete it, considering that voting in Canada is not mandatory. In contrast, those supporting the current mandatory long version combined with a voluntary short version argue that it produces a wealth of data required by innumerable levels of government, non-governmental organizations and private business, and that any changes will produce a skewed or even useless national demographic record.

While the sweltering temperatures of early July have subsided, debate on the census remains heated. I see the debate around this issue as an excellent opportunity for dialogue, deliberation and public engagement – for those involved in the decision and its ramifications to come together and decide what the best path forward is. There are a number of tools that I could see being used to consult nationally:

  • A series of face-to-face dialogues held across the country, during which stakeholders would come together to learn about and work through the various options available;
  • An online consultation, using a ChoiceBook, during which participants once again work through the pros and the cons of a number of options.
  • A live online chat with the federal Minister of Industry, providing participants a chance to hear firsthand about and to discuss the options available.

It is through listening to understand, exploring and testing one’s personal assumptions, searching for strengths and value in other positions, and seeking an outcome that creates new common ground that sustainable decisions can be found on this issue and other pressing public policy issues.

- Stephan Telka -



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“What the?!” Whatever happened to the UK Government’s innovative crowdsourcing project, the “Spending Challenge”?
Friday, July 16th, 2010

Earlier this week, I got really excited! (You should have seen me…)

On July 12, The UK Government launched an innovative crowdsourcing project to gather public ideas for reducing the country’s serious budget deficit. The Spending Challenge used an engaging website where members of the public co u ld submit their ideas for “getting more for less” by making public services less costly and more efficient. Participants could also read each other’s ideas, as well as rate and comment on them.

This was true crowdsourcing, where the community of users provides the engagement sponsor with a ranked list of measures based on what they think is most important to consider.

Before being released for public involvement on July 12, the Spending Challenge was used internally and received over 60,000 ideas from public servants government! And, with their expertise, this response was likely full of golden ideas.

What happened!?

So, I was surprised today when I returned to the engagement site, only to see that it had completely changed….

Gone is the ability to read other people’s ideas, to comment and to rate! You can still submit ideas – but that’s about all. Have a look for yourself: http://spendingchallenge.hm-treasury.gov.uk/

Less engaging + less effective

I think this new process design change is less innovative and, ultimately, less effective for several reasons:

  • No Interaction: There’s no dialogue or interaction between participants. People cannot engage in dialogue on the subject matter, exchange insights or perspectives.
  • No Community: The community of participants cannot collaborate together to co-create or improve ideas posted.
  • No Priorities Identified: Now, the UK Government will not generate a rated set of suggestions, showing which measures participants thought were most important to consider or implement. Instead, the results will be more of a “laundry list” than more a useful, publicly generated set of priorities

I still think the UK Government should be applauded for involving the public in tough, values-based discussions about government services.

That said, I think the redesign of the site and whole engagement process had made it less engaging for users and less effective as a tool to inform government decisions.

- Ellis Westwood -



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Fielding Graduate University’s Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement Program Enters its 7th Year!
Friday, July 9th, 2010

The DDPE Graduate Program is entering its seventh year running at Fielding Graduate University and is now working in collaboration with the University of Western Sydney, Center for Citizenship and Public Policy. Fielding Graduate University is located in Santa Barbara, California – not that its students need ever visit campus. Fielding’s learning model utilizes distance learning via an “online campus” in addition to face-to-face events.

When I took the DDPE course last year, we had two face-to-face meetings (one in September in San Diego, and one in January in Santa Barbara), and during the rest of the five month program we met “virtually” once every other week in different group formations by phone and through online discussions.

Full disclosure: Ascentum has partnered with Fielding to provide resources and support to host the online dialogue in a learning module mid-way through the DDPE course.

“This distinctive program [DDPE] strives for the development of mastery through building the skills, knowledge and intuitive sensibility that are needed to make wise choices about how to bring forms of dialogue, deliberation, and engagement into situations where they are most effective.”

I found the DDPE program stimulating (great readings, discussions, guest speakers), relaxed and at the same time challenging. Relaxed in that there is a lot of flexibility in how you participate online, by phone, and in person, and also in the peer-to-peer learning model. However it was also challenging in the sense of getting the group to work together: getting “communicators” to communicate well with each other, and managing the delicate flow of facilitation in a room full of facilitators. Good practice for all.

Overall, it’s an interesting course, and a valuable learning experience.

- Nicole Pollack -



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Climate change, the Gulf of Mexico and the G8/G20
Friday, June 25th, 2010

Amid the discussions about this week’s G8 and G20 , there are pressing public issues that demand leaders’ attention. It is six months since Copenhagen, and the G8 Accountability Report raises concerns about member countries performance on the  environmental front.

This is happening at the same time that citizens across the world  witness the ongoing environmental and economic devastation caused by BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill in one of the world’s richest, most diverse and fragile marine ecosystems. With 60,000 barrels of oil continuing to spew into the Gulf of Mexico, there is a growing public dialogue about reorienting our approach to  to deal holistically with our economic, energy and environmental needs.

The Gulf of Mexico catastrophe  demonstrates  simple approaches to complex global challenges don’t work.  Economist Jeffrey Sachs in Commonwealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet and management guru Peter Senge in The Necessary Revolution, advocate transformative approaches to climate change that integrate economic, environmental and social dimensions through shared governance involving governments, the public, and corporate and community sectors.

A promising initiative with which I am involved (through Ascentum and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa) seeks to advance practical and theoretical knowledge about shared governance through citizen deliberations: the Alberta Climate Change Dialogue (ABCD). This five year project, funded by a $1 million Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) grant from the Social Science and Humanities Federation of Canada (SSHRC) with $3.1 million in matching and in-kind support, led by University of Alberta Principal Investigator Dr. David Kahane, focuses on citizen contributions. ABCD researchers and practitioners will explore, in partnerships with Alberta municipalities and provincial ministries, environmental NGOs and industry, how and to what degree citizen deliberations influence policy; and how and to what degree participation in formal deliberations shapes citizen knowledge, motivation, and capacity to act on climate issues.

Check out this website www.albertaclimatedialogue.ca or email  abcd@ualberta.ca for more information on the project.

- Mary Pat MacKinnon -



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Engaging young people on their views of the future – and motivations for making a change in their communities
Friday, June 18th, 2010

Lots of people are worried about young people these days; why they vote less and appear less socially and politically engaged.

But, instead of just studying youth, Ascentum is part of an exciting community-level project to actively engage young people, as well as the rest of their communities, in dialogues and action about their confidence in learning and on how they want to make a difference in their neighbourhood, city, country or world.

The project is led by the Canadian Education Association, which has partnered with five Social Planning Councils, as well as Ascentum, to conduct a yearlong public engagement initiative pilot project in Ontario.  Each Social Planning Council involved is conducting its own face-to-face dialogues, tied together with a broader online process being designed by us.  The aim is to encourage dialogue, inspire action and collect data to inform education policy decisions.

We’re really excited to be involved and for the chance to work with both CEA and the Councils.  They both really “get” public participation and share Ascentum’s philosophy that it leads to more sustainable decisions.  The Association has been around since 1891 and works to foster national dialogue on education policy and how it can contribute to a better Canada.  Social Planning Councils are truly pioneers in public involvement.  Their missions are to create civic societies in their local communities, which they foster through capacity building, education, advocacy and engagement, and they have been experimenting in public involvement for many years.  The Social Planning Councils involved in the project are:

We are looking forward to working with and learning from them as the project unfolds!

We’ll keep you updated over the next few months with sneak peaks and news…

- Ellis Westwood -



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Strengthening the Red Seal program – through stakeholder involvement
Friday, June 4th, 2010

Ascentum is excited to be working with the Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA) to develop a plan to strengthen and improve their signature “Red Seal” program, a system of common standards for the skilled trades in Canada. For 50 years, Canada’s provinces and territories have worked together to build the Red Seal Program, an endorsement that signals excellence to employers, instils pride in skilled workers, and promotes geographic labour mobility. As the Canadian economy continues to grow, develop, and change, so too are our labour, skills and training needs.

The CCDA is considering the adaptation of a trades certification model that can meet numerous objectives: providing industry with a clearer picture of the individual worker’s competency, removing barriers to certification for many workers, and contributing to the productivity and competitiveness of Canada’s economy.

In collaboration with CCDA, Ascentum has designed, is facilitating and reporting on a series of cross-Canada stakeholder dialogues with government agencies, industry bodies and experienced trainers to discuss the benefits and challenges related to strengthening the Red Seal Program.

The end of our dialogue schedule is approaching, with seven of the eleven dialogues now complete. Members of our team have travelled with CCDA representatives to Halifax, Charlottetown, St. John’s, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Montréal and Fredericton. The next week will be spent pouring over the data we have collected thus far, and preparing for our final four dialogues in Saskatoon, Edmonton, Yellowknife and Vancouver. I’m particularly excited about the dialogues in the latter two cities, at which I’ll be carefully listening to and taking notes on the unique perspectives of those from northern Canada and the West Coast.

After the production of a final report in early summer, we will be moving on to the second phase of the project, an innovative online consultation that will build on the in-person dialogues and take the conversation to a broader group of stakeholders across the country.

For more information on the “Strengthening the Red Seal Program” project, including updates on the online consultations planned for Autumn 2010, visit www.strengtheningtheredseal.ca. 



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Respecting Privacy, Learning from Facebook
Friday, May 28th, 2010

Facebook has been receiving a lot of attention lately as a result of their privacy settings.  In particular the default settings on new features like the Instant Personalization through the new Graph API which launched in April . Matt McKeon has a great visual illustration on how the default Facebook privacy settings have changed between 2007 and 2010.

The Evolution of Privacy on Facebook

Matt’s images are complex but they show the gradual trend for Facebook default settings to be more public and the complexity of sharing different information with different groups of people. Its important to understand that these are the default settings and many people have chosen to define their own settings and comfort levels.

Facebook has recently announced and is currently rolling-out simpler privacy settings for all users. The general trend is to allow the user to opt-into new services instead of enabling them by default. Its important to learn Facebook and apply the same principals when engaging individuals. Theses principals are:

1/Inform the User

Outline exactly what information you need from them and how the information will be used. On my websites this is done through a privacy policy but may need to be updated for Facebook, Twitter and other Social Media websites.

2/ Explicit Consent

When you launch a new initiative or service that effect privacy or personal information, request explicit consent on the new usage of personal information. It is generally not acceptable to automatically assume everyone wants to participate or share personal information.

3/ Keep it Simple

Facebook has learned that by adding multiple options and controls they confused the user and may it hard for users to understand what they were sharing.

4/ Listen and Respond Quickly

Problems may arise where information is disclosed unintentionally and effect user data. Respond quickly and effectively to these situation and respect the user’s involved, where possible inform them of the situation.

Facebook has achieved incredible growth by allowing users to share personal information with their friends. They recognize that users will share more personal and use the service more effectively when they are confident of their privacy.

- Colin Smillie -



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Place à la jeunesse…
Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

La Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française (FJCF) est un organisme « par et pour les jeunes »  qui reconnaît le rôle important que jouent les jeunes d’expression française dans le développement et le bien-être de leurs communautés et qui met tout en œuvre afin de faire en sorte qu’ils puissent s’engager à leur façon et… en français.

C’est dans ce contexte que la FJCF a développé sa Stratégie d’intervention jeunesse (SIJ). Cette stratégie, publiée en 2009, est le fruit d’une consultation pancanadienne dans le cadre de laquelle plus de 200 jeunes d’expression française, âgés de 14 à 25 ans, ont formulé leurs recommandations quant aux moyens d’encourager et d’appuyer la participation citoyenne des jeunes. Elle a pour but d’aider à guider les actions des instances gouvernementales et des intervenants communautaires pour encourager une culture d’implication sociale chez près de 1,7 million de jeunes d’expression française au Canada.

C’est dans le cadre de la SIJ qu’Ascentum a collaboré avec la FJCF pour développer un carnet de consultation en ligne dans lequel les jeunes sont appelés à explorer la question de leur participation citoyenne, et d’offrir leurs perspectives sur comment et pourquoi ils s’engagent (ou non) dans leur communauté.

Pourquoi? Tel qu’expliqué dans le carnet de consultation :

« En gros, la participation citoyenne, c’est de mettre de son énergie et de ses talents au service de sa communauté ou d’une cause qui nous tient à cœur. C’est essentiel pour la communauté… et surtout, essentiel pour la jeunesse. C’est ainsi qu’elle prend la place qui lui revient maintenant en société pour bâtir l’avenir dont elle rêve. »

- Manon Abud -



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