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… More..
Spotlight
8 Principles for Public Outreach
It is never too late to start an outreach campaign, as long as your public participation initiative is still open. In this document we outline eight different principles and strategies for outreach, including the dos and don'ts for each. The principles include pointers on messaging, interactivity, ambassadors, mediums, the rationale, tracking, intentions, and social media.
Participation and Open Government Web Sites
The recently-released Open Government Directive requires all federal agencies to create an open government web site within 60 days that provides the public with opportunities to provide input on the agency’s open government plan, publishes key data sets, and provides information about opportunities to participate in agency activities, among other things.
Here are additional elements that may be...
Introducing Government Agencies to Web 2.0: When A Visitor Becomes A Community
Social media is here to stay. For corporations, political campaigns, nonprofit organizations and government agencies, it is changing the way we interact with our clients, stakeholders and the public at large. The traditional notion of the target audience is now too limiting a concept. With social media we must think beyond target audience and conceive of target...
Open Policy Making 101: 10 Questions To Ask Before Launching Your Online Public Consultation
When done right, online public consultations can be very rewarding experiences that produce significant value for everyone involved. Here are ten key questions to consider while soaring in the blue skies, before you take the plunge…
Our News
Evaluating Your Consultation: What Constitutes “Success”?
Written by Manon Abud on August 20th, 2010
The Census Debate: An Opportunity for Public Dialogue…
Written by Stephan Telka on 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.
“What the?!” Whatever happened to the UK Government’s innovative crowdsourcing project, the “Spending Challenge”?
Written by Ellis Westwood on 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. More..
Fielding Graduate University’s Dialogue, Deliberation and Public Engagement Program Enters its 7th Year!
Written by Ascentum Staff on 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. More..
Climate change, the Gulf of Mexico and the G8/G20
Written by Mary Pat MacKinnon on June 25th, 2010
Amid the discussions about this week’s G8 and G20 , there are pressing public issues that demand leaders’ attention. More..
Engaging young people on their views of the future – and motivations for making a change in their communities
Written by Ellis Westwood on 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. More..
Strengthening the Red Seal program – through stakeholder involvement
Written by Stephan Telka on 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. More..
Respecting Privacy, Learning from Facebook
Written by Colin Smillie on 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. More..
How to use Smartphones to make your next in-person dialogue awesome!
Written by Ellis Westwood on September 3rd, 2010
Smartphones bring the world into users’ hands. Web access, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and apps allow people to access, share and co-create knowledge in real time.
They are also powerful tools that can make in-person dialogues awesome – both in terms of generating shared information and giving participants a more engaging experience. More..