COLDIGIT - Collective Intelligence through Digital tools (NordForsk Digitalisation of the Public Sector)
Lead Research Organisation:
Nesta
Department Name: Policy and Research
Abstract
The overall purpose of the COLDIGIT project is to generate new knowledge on innovative digital tools and approaches, in order to understand how they can support governance of complex societal processes in the Nordic region. Previous research on such digital tools has been disciplinarily and sectorally fragmented, which has limited the horizon of related opportunities and challenges. COLDIGIT will adopt a broad view by empirically exploring various types of collective intelligence tools supported by technology (e.g., crowdsourcing, augmented reality (AR), artificial intelligence (AI), serious games, e-democracy and e-participation), in three parallel streams of co-creation: i ) co-innovation and co-funding, ii) co-production of knowledge and iii) co-construction of policies and decisions. In particular, the project will catalogue 150-200 cases of innovative digital tools, create a conceptual model of the digital ecosystem of collective intelligence, study obstacles and drivers of adoption and use of new technologies, and test innovative solutions through a series of pilots on participatory budgeting projects in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. To increase the strategic relevance of the findings, COLDIGIT will draw policy advice on how to develop and implement such tools and approaches in ways that contribute to a dynamic and responsible digital transformation of Nordic societies and the United Kingdom. Nesta, the project's UK partner, will lead the parts of the proposed work studying the obstacles and drivers of adoption and the development of policy recommendations.
Organisations
- Nesta (Lead Research Organisation)
- Aecom (United Kingdom) (Collaboration)
- SINTEF (Collaboration)
- Fab Lab Barcelona (Collaboration)
- University of Gothenburg (Collaboration)
- University of Helsinki (Collaboration, Project Partner)
- Chalmers University of Technology (Project Partner)
- SINTEF (Project Partner)
Publications
Edgar, C.
(2023)
Making Democratic Innovations Stick
Whittington, O.
(2021)
Advancing democratic innovations toolkit.
| Description | 1. Democratic innovation and digital participation This is the first comprehensive analysis of the barriers experienced by democratic innovators around the world. Alongside the barriers, we have captured the enablers that can help advance these innovations and tools to their full potential. Key findings: - Democratic innovations have proved their value in supporting institutions to tackle the crises we face, however, many fail to sustain beyond pilots or have their outcomes enacted. - This report sets out a three-level framework for delivering, expanding and embedding democratic innovations. - Deliver democratic innovations to achieve best practices. This ensures that you get the basics right and that more people can experience a participatory process. - Expand democratic innovations to build inclusive and accessible participation. This ensures that everyone affected by the topic of participation has an equitable platform to participate and is motivated to engage. - Embed democratic innovations to create participatory systems of governance. This ensures a more transparent institution with more areas of government that are influenced by participation. 2. Making democratic innovations stick In the final report, it investigates what policy makers and funders can do to create the right conditions for mainstreaming and scaling the use of democratic innovations, and what to prioritise when doing this. We build the recommendations on three new pieces of research - a review of evidence and best practice, a survey of local government and public perspectives on citizen engagement and barriers to doing this well. Key findings (survey): - A survey of 52 people working on participation in local government in the UK and the Nordic countries found that: - A lack of funding and bureaucracy are the biggest barriers to using and scaling democratic innovations - Enabling citizens to influence decision making, building trust and being more inclusive are the most important reasons for using democratic innovations - Tackling climate change and reducing poverty and inequality are seen as the most important challenges to involve the public in. - When we focused on attitudes towards participation in the UK more broadly, and on attitudes to participation in climate change more specifically we found that: - The public think it is important that they are being involved in how we make decisions on climate change. - The public doesn't think the government is doing a good job of involving them. - Not having the ability to influence decision makers and not having the right skills to participate are seen as the biggest barriers by the public. Recommendations: - Aims and objectives for participation need to be clearly formulated before deciding on which approach to take - Make sure participation leads to impact and citizens have a real mandate - Set up dedicated teams and institutions responsible for digital participation - Develop participation skills and capacity building programmes - Make diversity and representation in participatory exercises a key objective - Experiment with democratic innovations and evaluate what works best - Invest in both the use and maintenance of digital tools for participation - Use AI to improve and create innovative approaches to how citizen assemblies and participatory budgeting is implemented. |
| Exploitation Route | Outside the direct impact on the three pilot sites in Trondheim (Norway), Malmo (Sweden) and Helsinki (Finland) where the work on participatory budgeting and citizens assemblies continue, utilising lessons learned from collaborating with the COLDIGIT project, we believe there is evidence that our findings and outcomes have already been put to use by others: 1. The recommendations from the COLDIGIT project were selected for the Nordforsk 'Fast Track to Vision 2030' publication which was used to brief the Nordic council of Ministers in 2023. 2. The decision by the website 'Civil Service World' to publish the thought piece 'The public is ready for citizens' assemblies - civil servants should embrace this' (detailed above) is evidence of a legitimate interest within spheres of local and national government in the wider implementation of deliberative democracy. In particular, the arguments outlined in the article have the potential to: Motivate the UK government to set up a dedicated Citizen Participation Service. Encourage adoption of a wide range of approaches to citizen engagement, including citizens councils, participatory budgeting, citizen science, and citizens' assemblies (among others). 3. The findings from the COLDIGIT project helped shape our approach to designing subsequent research collaborations investigating public participation in democratic innovations. Most notably, the Centre for Collective Intelligence design collaborated closely with the Innovation and Growth Lab (IGL) to devise a set of research protocols, focusing on use of large, multinational surveys and policy experiments, to investigate public attitudes towards participation in public engagement activities related to the EUs social missions. These protocols formed the basis of securing a new services contract with the European Commission to focusing on Policy Experimentation, worth £435,193. The research collaboration is ongoing, as both Nesta and IGL work closely with the European Commission to deliver the project. Initial findings have already helped inform publication of a policy brief: 'Citizens' awareness of EU missions and opportunities for citizen engagement'. 4. The findings from COLDIGIT, especially those that helped build an understanding of barriers to adoption of digital technology in citizen participation, have already fed into our subsequent work to develop new tools that can be sued by local government authorities in the UK to engage the public in the co-evaluation of net-zero policy strategies. We are currently collaborating with Southend Council (UK) to develop a novel digital tool that will enable the council to engage groups of citizens, and allow them to learn about and rate preferred strategies for combating the impact of water scarcity and flooding in their local area. 5. Lessons from COLDIGIT have fed into Nesta's campaign for the Creation of a Citizen Participation Service in the UK government. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.nesta.org.uk/project/collective-intelligence-through-digital-tools-coldigit-democratic-innovation/ |
| Description | Through our research, we wanted to develop a stronger understanding of how integration of digital tools can help foster democratic innovation, and translate this into practical, actionable advice and information for those seeking to implement democratic innovations using digital tools. In particular, we wanted to understand how democratic innovations can be scaled beyond limited pilot initiatives, and successfully maintained for many years. Through research based on pilot analyses, case studies, expert interviews, surveys, and a literature review, we have developed two major published outputs summarising our research findings: Democratic innovation and digital participation: A novel framework for understanding barriers and enablers to the implementation of democratic innovations such as participatory budgeting initiatives and citizens assemblies - with a focus on the UK and Nordic countries. (September 2022). This was accompanied by publication of the 'Advancing democratic innovations toolkit', which provides facilitators with materials (Barriers and Enablers summary cards, facilitator guides, activity posters) to run training workshops with government actors to help them identify potential barriers and solutions to the implementation of democratic innovations in their communities. Making democratic innovations stick: A publication of policy eight policy recommendations, providing evidence-based advice addressing some of the most important challenges facing government actors who wish to implement democratic innovations. (November 2023). Having been published in September 2022, 'Democratic innovation and digital participation' and the associated work has had the time to manifest the greatest impact of the two bodies of work. The research has been well received by both the research and practice communities. As detailed above, the barriers and enablers framework has been presented at a number of talks and workshops attended by both practitioners and academics, who subsequently reported being influenced by the research findings. The published report has been read approximately 200 times (at time of submission), and has been integrated into at least one recommended reading list for university module's on digital democracy (run by Dr. Oliver Escobar, University of Edinburgh). The accompanying toolkit was used in a workshop, run as part of the COLDIGIT 2022 consortium meeting in Gothenburg, Sweden, in which members of local government authorities used the toolkit materials to explore barriers to the implementation of democratic innovations in their organisations. Having been published relatively recently (November 2023), 'Making democratic innovations stick' has not yet had sufficient time to generate impact. As outlined above, it is hoped the policy recommendations detailed within, as well as the synthesised primary and secondary research, will provide a valuable resource to government officials and policy makers seeking to implement and sustain democratic innovations at scale. Beyond the two key publications outlined above, our work on this project has also helped build cross-disciplinary relationships and foster knowledge sharing between both academic institutions, third sector organisations, and government authorities across the UK and Nordics. The numerous workshops, talks, and seminars that we organised has (for example) helped provide training to local government actors in participatory budgeting, and connect consortium research partners to networks of local government in the UK. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Societal Policy & public services |
| Description | Collective Intelligence through Digital Tools (COLDIGIT) |
| Organisation | Fab Lab Barcelona |
| Country | Spain |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | While each partner is responsible for leading a work package, the delivery of the project has been collaborative throughout. Nesta plays a central role in the project, aligning research goals, guides and format to ensure insights collected can be integrated across work packages and hosting workshops to ensure the partnership is delivering towards common objectives. The breakdown of Nesta's contribution to work packages is described below: WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - Nesta's role: Supporting SINTEF in defining the purpose of the inventory of CI tools, sharing expert knowledge on existing repositories, primary research on tools and case studies for the inventory, and reviewing inventory. WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - Nesta's role: Lead reviewer of materials WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta's role: leading work package and primary research, defining strategic direction of work package, creation of framework, integrating findings from other work packages, and designing of interventions WP4 Digital democracy pilots - Nesta's role: providing input into research guides, supporting the development of piloting interventions and evaluation of findings WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta's role: lead synthesis of findings across all work packages and development of policy advice and recommendations WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Collaborator Contribution | WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - SINTEF work package lead, Nesta and University of Helsinki support WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - University of Helsinki work package lead, University of Gothenburg support WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki review WP4 Digital democracy pilots - University of Gothenburg work package lead, Trondheim citizen's assembly (SINTEF partner lead), Gothenburg participatory budgeting (Digidem Lab partner lead), Helsinki participatory budgeting (University of Helsinki partner lead) WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki support WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Impact | No outputs of the partnership have been generated in this first year, however, the partnership combines a diverse range of disciplines and practices of work, including: University of Helsinki - Social sciences, data analytics, participatory and democratic theory University of Gothenburg - Architecture and urban design, social sciences SINTEF - Software engineering, risk and safety engineering Digidem Lab - Participatory and deliberative practitioners |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collective Intelligence through Digital Tools (COLDIGIT) |
| Organisation | SINTEF |
| Country | Norway |
| Sector | Multiple |
| PI Contribution | While each partner is responsible for leading a work package, the delivery of the project has been collaborative throughout. Nesta plays a central role in the project, aligning research goals, guides and format to ensure insights collected can be integrated across work packages and hosting workshops to ensure the partnership is delivering towards common objectives. The breakdown of Nesta's contribution to work packages is described below: WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - Nesta's role: Supporting SINTEF in defining the purpose of the inventory of CI tools, sharing expert knowledge on existing repositories, primary research on tools and case studies for the inventory, and reviewing inventory. WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - Nesta's role: Lead reviewer of materials WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta's role: leading work package and primary research, defining strategic direction of work package, creation of framework, integrating findings from other work packages, and designing of interventions WP4 Digital democracy pilots - Nesta's role: providing input into research guides, supporting the development of piloting interventions and evaluation of findings WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta's role: lead synthesis of findings across all work packages and development of policy advice and recommendations WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Collaborator Contribution | WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - SINTEF work package lead, Nesta and University of Helsinki support WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - University of Helsinki work package lead, University of Gothenburg support WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki review WP4 Digital democracy pilots - University of Gothenburg work package lead, Trondheim citizen's assembly (SINTEF partner lead), Gothenburg participatory budgeting (Digidem Lab partner lead), Helsinki participatory budgeting (University of Helsinki partner lead) WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki support WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Impact | No outputs of the partnership have been generated in this first year, however, the partnership combines a diverse range of disciplines and practices of work, including: University of Helsinki - Social sciences, data analytics, participatory and democratic theory University of Gothenburg - Architecture and urban design, social sciences SINTEF - Software engineering, risk and safety engineering Digidem Lab - Participatory and deliberative practitioners |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collective Intelligence through Digital Tools (COLDIGIT) |
| Organisation | University of Gothenburg |
| Country | Sweden |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | While each partner is responsible for leading a work package, the delivery of the project has been collaborative throughout. Nesta plays a central role in the project, aligning research goals, guides and format to ensure insights collected can be integrated across work packages and hosting workshops to ensure the partnership is delivering towards common objectives. The breakdown of Nesta's contribution to work packages is described below: WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - Nesta's role: Supporting SINTEF in defining the purpose of the inventory of CI tools, sharing expert knowledge on existing repositories, primary research on tools and case studies for the inventory, and reviewing inventory. WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - Nesta's role: Lead reviewer of materials WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta's role: leading work package and primary research, defining strategic direction of work package, creation of framework, integrating findings from other work packages, and designing of interventions WP4 Digital democracy pilots - Nesta's role: providing input into research guides, supporting the development of piloting interventions and evaluation of findings WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta's role: lead synthesis of findings across all work packages and development of policy advice and recommendations WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Collaborator Contribution | WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - SINTEF work package lead, Nesta and University of Helsinki support WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - University of Helsinki work package lead, University of Gothenburg support WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki review WP4 Digital democracy pilots - University of Gothenburg work package lead, Trondheim citizen's assembly (SINTEF partner lead), Gothenburg participatory budgeting (Digidem Lab partner lead), Helsinki participatory budgeting (University of Helsinki partner lead) WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki support WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Impact | No outputs of the partnership have been generated in this first year, however, the partnership combines a diverse range of disciplines and practices of work, including: University of Helsinki - Social sciences, data analytics, participatory and democratic theory University of Gothenburg - Architecture and urban design, social sciences SINTEF - Software engineering, risk and safety engineering Digidem Lab - Participatory and deliberative practitioners |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Collective Intelligence through Digital Tools (COLDIGIT) |
| Organisation | University of Helsinki |
| Country | Finland |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | While each partner is responsible for leading a work package, the delivery of the project has been collaborative throughout. Nesta plays a central role in the project, aligning research goals, guides and format to ensure insights collected can be integrated across work packages and hosting workshops to ensure the partnership is delivering towards common objectives. The breakdown of Nesta's contribution to work packages is described below: WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - Nesta's role: Supporting SINTEF in defining the purpose of the inventory of CI tools, sharing expert knowledge on existing repositories, primary research on tools and case studies for the inventory, and reviewing inventory. WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - Nesta's role: Lead reviewer of materials WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta's role: leading work package and primary research, defining strategic direction of work package, creation of framework, integrating findings from other work packages, and designing of interventions WP4 Digital democracy pilots - Nesta's role: providing input into research guides, supporting the development of piloting interventions and evaluation of findings WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta's role: lead synthesis of findings across all work packages and development of policy advice and recommendations WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Collaborator Contribution | WP1 Inventory of digital CI tools supporting co-creation - SINTEF work package lead, Nesta and University of Helsinki support WP2 CI conceptual modelling and ecosystem mapping - University of Helsinki work package lead, University of Gothenburg support WP3 Analysis of obstacles and enabling factors - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki review WP4 Digital democracy pilots - University of Gothenburg work package lead, Trondheim citizen's assembly (SINTEF partner lead), Gothenburg participatory budgeting (Digidem Lab partner lead), Helsinki participatory budgeting (University of Helsinki partner lead) WP5 Final studies and policy advice - Nesta work package lead, University of Helsinki support WP6 Management and dissemination - University of Helsinki work package lead |
| Impact | No outputs of the partnership have been generated in this first year, however, the partnership combines a diverse range of disciplines and practices of work, including: University of Helsinki - Social sciences, data analytics, participatory and democratic theory University of Gothenburg - Architecture and urban design, social sciences SINTEF - Software engineering, risk and safety engineering Digidem Lab - Participatory and deliberative practitioners |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Supporting the London Office of Technology and Innovation (LOTI) in the delivery of the LOTI Innovation Day on Resident Participation in Local Government |
| Organisation | Davis Langdon |
| Department | London office |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Nesta provided our expertise to LOTI, acting in consulting capacity to help plan the delivery of an Innovation Day. 120 members from London Boroughs attended and participated in talks and workshops, to learn about the latest developments and methods for delivering democratic innovations. Nesta delivered an opening talk on the coldigit barriers and enablers framework followed by a workshop , on the use of Collective Intelligence methods for democratic innovation, and ways to increase citizen participation in policy making. Nesta facilitated one of six breakout groups focusing specifically on Designing Participation Projects Properly. Outcomes from this workshop has been used to inform LOTI's future work with councils. Nesta hosted a stall at the event which was used to promote COLDIGIT and distribute the COLDIGIT barriers and enablers survey. |
| Collaborator Contribution | LOTI were primarily responsible for running the Innovation Day, including its financing, advertisement, and organisation of activities, talks, and speakers. As a follow up LOTI has committed to supporting Nesta and the coldigit project with future events targeting London Boroughs. |
| Impact | Delivery of Innovation Day Delivery of talk Delivery of workshop Workshop lead to insights on designing products that will be used in future LOTI work Identified synergies with other projects, including options for funding for citizen science initiatives through the Nesta-run project Impetus (see https://www.nesta.org.uk/project/impetus-enhancing-the-impact-of-citizen-science/), which was shared on LOTIs online message board and events space 'Basecamp'(https://3.basecamp.com/4232067/projects). This collaboration also helped develop opportunities for future collaborations between Nesta, LOTI, and Digidem such as a workshop on participatory budgeting in local gov. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Barriers and enablers workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Workshop run as part of a consortium meeting. Attended by other researchers and members of local government authorities. The intended purpose of the workshop was to engage with members of local government interested in implementing democratic innovations and help them identify potential barriers and enablers to their implementation, using the published toolkit ("Advancing democratic innovations toolkit."). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | COLDIGIT "Democratic innovation and digital participation." report launch event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Online launch event for COLDIGIT report "Democratic innovation and digital participation.", including talks by the report author (Oli Whittington, Nesta) and guest speakers Claudia Chwalisz (OECD) and Jon Alexander (New Citizenship Project). The event focused on exploring the themes of the report, while discussing how the move towards collective intelligence and citizen-led action is addressing real-world problems, such as climate change. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.nesta.org.uk/event/nesta-talks-to-claudia-chwalisz-and-jon-alexander/ |
| Description | Camden Council Study Visit |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the London COLDIGIT consortium meeting, we organised a study visit to Camden Council in London, so that consortium members could learn about the variety of democratic innovations being implemented by Camden Council (who are leaders, nationally, in developing and implementing such initiatives), and so Camden Council could learn from consortium members about the cutting edge research findings of the COLDIGIT project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Collective Intelligence in Citizen Participation for Sustainable Cities (Conference in Tampere, Finland) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk attended by researchers, practitioners and technologists working on and with digital tools for public participation. The intended purpose of the talk was to engage with those working in the field and discuss the implementation of democratic innovations, and how this can help develop sustainable cities. In doing so, we aimed to raise the profile of our research activities with those working in related fields, and disseminate our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | http://www.kaupunkitutkimuksenpaivat.net/esitelmakutsu-call-for-papers/ |
| Description | Good Growth Directorate meeting at the Greater London Authority |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provided keynote talk and workshop covering the COLDIGIT barriers and enablers theoretical framework and ideas for innovation and alternative approaches to citizen participation. This with a particular focus on diversity and inclusion and how to involve people in decision making to strengthen trust and collaboration and improve representation so that GLA serves Londoners more effectively. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Government Business article on Collective Intelligence and Digital Tools |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Article requested by Government Business Magazine that references the rise of Collective Intelligence throughout the pandemic and its emerging role in decision making. COLDIGIT is directly referenced and this featured as the main article of the issue. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://governmentbusiness.co.uk/features/covid-19-and-rise-collective-intelligence |
| Description | How to design for collective intelligence in the public sector. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk presented as part of the Brazil Innovation Week, drawing on insights from the COLDIGIT research project to outline how to design collective Intelligence (CI) methods, approaches, and tools available for use in the public sector. The talk focused on providing practical advice on how to design and implement CI methods, and highlighting their effectiveness through case studies, as well as discussion of their strengths and limitations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Institute for Government event: Reinvigorating UK democracy: how to bridge the gap between citizens and the state |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Panel Discussion attended by researchers, practitioners and technologists working on and with digital tools for public participation. The intended purpose of the talk was to engage with the public and other practitioners interested in the implementation of democratic innovations, and how collective intelligence methods can be used to bridge the gap between citizens and the state. In doing so, we aimed to raise the profile of our research activities with those working in related fields, and disseminate our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/events/reinvigorating-uk-democracy |
| Description | Interviews & discussions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Throughout the project a primary focus has been engaging a variety of people in discussion and interview. Over the last year this has included: - Anthony Zacharzewski, Democratic Society - Claudia Chwalisz, OECD - Rosie Beacon, Tony Blair Institute - Miguel Arana Catania, Alan Turing Institute - Matt Stempeck, Cornell University - Attending the OECD's Innovative Citizen Participation Network These interviews and discussions helped to develop our framework, understand the progress of digital democracy in the sector and widen our understanding of global case studies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | London Office of Technology and Innovation: Innovation Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Delivered talk on the use of Collective Intelligence methods as a means of delivering democratic innovation and increasing citizen participation in policy making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | London Office of Technology and Innovation: Innovation Day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Delivered workshop on the use of Collective Intelligence methods as a means of delivering democratic innovation and increasing citizen participation in policy making. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Nordic Edge conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk attended by researchers, practitioners and technologists working on and with digital tools for public participation. The intended purpose of the talk was to engage with the public and other practitioners and explore the implementation of democratic innovations, and designing ways in which we can mainstream and scale digital democracy in the Nordics. In doing so, we aimed to raise the profile of our research activities with those working in related fields, and disseminate our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://nordicedge.org/events/whats-next-for-democratic-innovation-in-the-nordics/ |
| Description | Participatory Budgeting Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Working together with Digidem Lab and LOTI, we delivered a workshop on Participatory Budgeting. This involved a mixture of talks by expert consultants from Digidem Labs and Paris City council, detailing the process of, and their experience, delivering Participatory Budgeting initiatives. We also facilitated group discussions and an activity which guided participants through the process of designing and delivering their own participatory budgeting exercise - focusing on identifying key opportunities and challenges. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Policy recommendations for scaling digital democratic innovations |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | As part of the London COLDIGIT consortium meeting, we organised a research seminar to facilitate knowledge sharing between consortium members, and both a leading academic in democratic innovation policy (Prof. Graham Smith) and the research team at LOTI. Learnings from this seminar helped shape the content and focus of the COLDIGIT policy recommendations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Policy recommendations to Strengthen Democracy in the Nordics |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | As part of the final COLDIGIT consortium meeting, representatives from the research team at Nesta presented their research findings and policy recommendations for scaling democratic innovations, talk title: 'Policy recommendations to Strengthen Democracy in the Nordics'. This was part of a larger event hosted by the Finnish Innovation Fund - SITRA, event title: 'Evaluation & Innovation: The Future of Citizen Participation in an international perspective', which was attended by a number of practitioners and experts in democratic innovations from around the world. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://blogs.helsinki.fi/collective-intelligence-through-digital-tools-coldigit/2023/09/05/coldigit... |
| Description | Polis Meetup |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Talk as part of a series of short talks followed by dinner & networking. Attended by other researchers, practitioners and technologists working on and with digital tools for public participation. The intended purpose of the talk was to explore why we often fail to move beyond individual pilots, and designing ways in which we can mainstream and scale digital democracy - and if scale is even the right objective. In doing so, we aimed to raise the profile of our research activities with those working in related fields, and disseminate our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://lu.ma/PolisMeetupMar2022 |
| Description | Reimagining democracy and our role as citizens |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Panel Discussion attended by researchers, practitioners and technologists working on and with digital tools for public participation. The intended purpose of the talk was to engage with the public and other practitioners interested in the implementation of democratic innovations, and how collective intelligence methods can be used to bridge the gap between citizens and the state. In doing so, we aimed to raise the profile of our research activities with those working in related fields, and disseminate our findings. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.nesta.org.uk/event/nesta-talks-to-claudia-chwalisz-and-jon-alexander/ |
| Description | The public is ready for citizens' assemblies - civil servants should embrace this. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This article for the publication Civil Service World discusses the potential introduction of citizens' assemblies in the UK as a means to enhance democratic participation beyond traditional electoral processes. It explores recent developments in this area, including plans by Labour to implement such assemblies, and addresses criticisms from various quarters. Drawing on research findings from the COLDIGIT project, the article highlights the public's desire for greater involvement in decision-making, particularly regarding pressing issues like climate change. It argues for a cultural shift within government to embrace participatory democracy, suggesting the establishment of a Citizen Participation Service to coordinate and enhance public involvement across all departments. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.civilserviceworld.com/news/article/citizens-assemblies-are-long-overdue-and-a-chance-to-... |
| Description | The public want their say on climate action. Is anyone listening? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A blog was published, summarising the findings from a nationally representative survey of the UK general public (n=2000), commissioned by the research team at Nesta, to investigate attitudes towards participation in the formation of UK government strategy to reach net-zero. The blog highlighted the general public's desire to be given a say in how the UK government addresses climate change, and that they do not believe the government is currently doing a good job of involving them. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/the-public-want-their-say-on-climate-action-is-anyone-listening/ |
| Description | Tools to help government and decision makers tap into collective intelligence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk presented at Anprotec Conference, Brazil, drawing on insights from the COLDIGIT research project to outline the collective Intelligence (CI) methods, approaches, and tools available to government actors to aid decision-making. The talk focused on introducing CI methods, and highlighting their effectiveness through case studies, as well as discussion of their strengths and limitations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Trondheim municipality workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A cross partnership workshop with representatives from Trondheim municipality to share institutional knowledge on digital democracy and learn about the municipality's challenges and opportunities in developing and implementing digital tools for democratic engagement. This has engagement has resulted in a deepening relationship with the municipality and shared objectives to foster collaboration and sharing with Norway's Smart City network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Urban Talks Summer Series: Pathways to Urban Collective Intelligence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Talk describing how collective intelligence can be harnessed to tackle urban challenges. Delivered by Peter Baeck, Director of the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta, alongside speakers from the UNDP Accelerator Labs. Peter introduced CCID's approach, lessons from the COLDIGIT project with case studies showcasing the benefits of citizen insights. Attendees gained valuable insights into collaborative solutions for sustainable urban development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr12XOzBFgA |