Bayside City Council, in collaboration with MosaicLab, initiated a community panel to develop a new vision for the region. This process was undertaken in 2020 just before COVID restrictions were put in place, and thus had to make some adjustments to meeting formats partway through the process. This initiative won the Best Practice and Innovation in Council Plan Development Award at the LGPro VIC Awards in May 2022. [1]
Problems and Purpose
The panel was tasked to develop a new vision for the community – the Bayside 2050 Community Vision. This was to fall in line with the Victorian Local Government Act 2020, which requires that local governments must create a community vision in collaboration with the community through deliberative practices. [2] The vision would inform the council’s decisions for the next few decades as they work to achieve the vision for the region that community members wish it to be. [3]
The panel was given the remit: “The world is changing, and life in Bayside will be very different in 30 years’ time. What’s your vision for Bayside in 2050 and what do we need to prioritise in order to get there?” [4]
Background History and Context
The Bayside 2050 community vision was in part initiated to replace the Community Plan 2025, which was developed in 2016. [5]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Bayside City Council initiated and funded the community panel [6] and MosaicLab was responsible for the design and facilitation of the panel. [7]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
An “Expression of Interest” process was held for potential participants to register their interest in taking part. Over 200 responses were received, which were then collated, and a random stratified sample of participants were selected to take part in the community panel. Stratification was based on age, residential suburb and gender and done via an online tool. [8] & [9]
Participants were to receive a AUD$300 gift card to cover attendance costs and to acknowledge their contribution to the panel. [10]
Prior to the panel, a community engagement process was held and sought input from citizens through online surveys and drop-in sessions. This would inform the panel discussions. [11]
Participant numbers varied for the duration of the process. There were 29 for the first day (in-person, although Bayside City Council website says 28 people, see [8]), 20 for five afternoons (online, held in five three-hour sessions) and 12 for the last “recall day” (online). [12]
The number of participants dropped in part due to the change in meeting format from face-to-face to online due to COVID restrictions. Some participants gave reasons for not being able to attend, such as having too many meetings online (likely due to most things moving online in response to COVID restrictions), not being able to express their views online, and struggling to commit to the new time arrangements. [13]
Methods and Tools Used
Prior to this process, Bayside City Council had consulted with the broader community for ideas and priorities that were then used to inform this process. [14]
The community panel process followed standard deliberative practices, although the meeting timeframe was shortened. The other practices that were followed included participants writing their own recommendations report, and recommendations being decided upon through a super-majority vote. [15]
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
The process took place over four months from February to May 2020. The process began in-person, but due to the implementation of COVID restrictions, was moved online. This meant the panel was structured into one full day in person deliberation, five afternoons online, and one full recall day online. [16]
As there was a pivot to online deliberation, MosaicLab offered support for people as they deliberated in the new format. This support involved holding a pre-workshop to make people more familiar with the technology they will be using (Zoom, Google Docs, and Survey Monkey), and having an in-session facilitator to support with any issues that arose during the workshop. [17]
During the online meetings, participants heard from a guest speaker, wrote a vision statement along with drafting policies to achieve that vision, refined draft policies and voted on policies for recommendations. [18]
Participants drafted and wrote the final report containing 10 recommendations achieved through super majority voting, and two minority reports. [19] & [20]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Bayside City Council committed to the following in response to the panel’s recommendations [21]:
- Receive the panel’s recommendations “with an open mind”
- Publish the report on the Council’s website
- Provide a response document
- Acknowledge where panel recommendations have influenced Council thinking
- Incorporate as much of the recommendations into planning
- If recommendations were not incorporated, provide reasons why
- Engage with other actors to aid in implementing the plan
- Regularly provide progress reports
The Bayside 2050 Community Vision was adopted by the Bayside City Council in February 2021. The council released a Community Vision report detailing the recommendations along with the steps the Council is planning to take to implement them. [22]
The Vision also led to the development of the Bayside City Council Plan 2021-2025 that outlines how the Council will collaborate with residents to achieve some of the goals detailed in the Vision in the next four years. [23]
When considering the experience of taking part, participants expressed a greater appreciation for Council’s work and resource management in response to needs and projects. There was also an acknowledgement about the necessity of prioritizing projects as not everything is possible to do. [24]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
After the panel, MosaicLab surveyed the participants about their experiences of the in-person/online format. Two-thirds (63%) preferred a mixture of both formats stating it is good to meet people in person initially and then online allows for a more focused meeting along with making use of the technology and accessibility it provides. One-third (31%) preferred in person only stating this allows for greater inter-personal interactions, is easier for many people to contribute opinions and better logistically. One person (6%) preferred all online stating it’s more efficient and better for the environment. [25]
MosaicLab also considered their own experiences about moving online. They also found that building rapport among participants was challenging in an online environment. They noted that tasks took longer to complete or were not completed at all. This meant work needed to be done in between meetings, which had some benefits in that participants had more time to think through things. On the other hand, it also meant some of it was not done because it was outside of meeting times. There were some accessibility issues for some participants, even though most were comfortable with the technology being used. The main issues were around the devices people used, which had limitations around what people could view while they were on the video call. MosaicLab tried to mitigate this by loaning participants laptops. [26]
Another challenge with online meetings was that it was more difficult to monitor small group discussions and jump in if they needed assistance or if someone was dominating the conversation. Navigating council members and observers in the meetings also required creative thinking, as being online meant they are being exposed to more of the deliberative process than they normally would be and could thereby potentially have a greater influence on the outcome. [27]
See Also
References
[1] MosaicLab (n.d.) Latest Projects – Bayside Community Panel: Award-Winning. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/latest-projects
[2] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[3] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[4] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[5] Bayside Community Council (n.d.) Background Information. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/background-information
[6] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[7] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[8] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[9] Bayside City Council (2021) Bayside 2050 Community Vision. Available at: https://hdp-au-prod-app-bays-yoursay-files.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/7816/1423/2576/Adopted_Bayside_2050_Community_Vision_February_2021.pdf
[10] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[11] Ibid.
[12] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[13] Ibid.
[14] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[15] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[20] Bayside City Council (2021) Bayside 2050 Community Vision. Available at: https://hdp-au-prod-app-bays-yoursay-files.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/7816/1423/2576/Adopted_Bayside_2050_Community_Vision_February_2021.pdf
[21] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Community Panel. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050/community-panel
[22] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Bayside 2050. Available at: https://yoursay.bayside.vic.gov.au/bayside-2050
[23] Bayside City Council (n.d.) Council Plan. Available at: https://www.bayside.vic.gov.au/council/find-out-about/council-plan
[24] Bayside City Council (2021) Community Panel Day Two Feedback: Bayside Council Plan 2021-2025. Available at: Community Panel day two feedback: Bayside Council Plan 2021-2025
[25] MosaicLab (n.d.) Case Study: Lessons Learnt Moving a Panel from In-Person to Online. Available at: https://www.mosaiclab.com.au/news-all-posts/case-study-moving-panel-online
[26] Ibid.
[27] Ibid.
