This process was undertaken to update the 30-year infrastructure strategy, which takes place very three to five years, and sets out to advise the government on infrastructure issues and supports infrastructure research.
Problems and Purpose
Using various community engagement approaches, Infrastructure Victoria sought to review and update it's 30-year infrastructure strategy by hearing from the community about what matters to them regarding "density done well". [1] This was done to ensure the strategy was addressing current needs, was responsive to policy changes and new challenges, particularly referencing the 2019-2020 summer bushfires and influence of the COVID-19 pandemic over the last couple of years. [2]
Findings from this engagement would advise the Victorian Government about current and future infrastructure requirements, thus feeding into the 30-year infrastructure strategy. [1]
Background History and Context
This initiative builds on the initial infrastructure strategy pursued and produced in 2016 (Participedia case 4561). [3] Infrastructure Victoria, a government advisory body, aims to updated this strategy every three to five years. Since 2016, the body had been consulting with Victorian residents about how best to update the strategy, and for this particular engagement process Infrastructure Victoria sought citizen input into the draft strategy generated in this time. [2]
Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities
Infrastructure Victoria is an "independent advisory body established to guide decision-making on Victoria's infrastructure needs and priorities." [1]
Participant Recruitment and Selection
Jetty Research (now Taverner Research Group) was used to recruit participants. This was done through two ways to recruit stratified randomly selected participants (from direct calls from Jetty Research) and self-selected participants (from targeted Facebook advertising). This led to the participation of community members with strong and moderate views about the issue. [1] Participants were stratified to represent those from each of the three suburbs, a diversity of ethnicities and cultures, diverse age ranges, and future housing goals. [Ibid.]
Participants received a $250 stipend after the second stage for their time and other travel expenses to participate. [1]
Methods and Tools Used
Deliberative focus groups
Deliberative workshop
What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation
Community input was sought regarding the concept of "density done well" [1]. This was done in two stages.
Stage 1
The first stage involved small group discussions with community members from three suburbs close to the city that had good working public transport and infrastructure. This took four weeks and involved two rounds of deliberative focus groups, each 2.5 hours in length. Participants were asked to respond to the question "what is density done well?" [1]
66 people participated in this stage (23 from Heidelberg, 20 from Camberwell, 23 from Footscray). [1]
The first round involved familiarisation with the deliberative process, introduction to Infrastructure Victoria, topic presentations, facilitated discussions and feedback, recording participant questions not addressed at the time, and assigning participants "homework" questions to consider to the next round. [1]
The second round involved sharing perspectives from the first workshop, sharing responses to the homework task, facilitated discussions and recording ideas, and generating broad principles that can aid decision making. Some issues were explored in more depth than others due to the level of importance assigned to them by participants. [1]
Participants were randomly and self-selected from the Melbourne suburbs of Heidelberg, Camberwell and Footscray - suburbs chosen for population numbers, their proximity to the city and current public transport. There were six focus groups in total - two in each suburb, with each suburb having one focus group of randomly selected participants, and the other self-selected but stratified participants. This took place in October 2019. [1]
Stage 2
The second stage involved inviting all 66 participants from the focus groups in stage 1 coming together for a half-day deliberative workshop to find and further refine common values and principles across the groups. The online and smartphone based polling platform "Poll Everywhere" was used for participants to respond to questions during this time. 45 participants took part in the second stage, and evenly represented the three suburbs of interest. This took place in November 2019. [1]
Influence, Outcomes, and Effects
Participants generated and agreed on nine themes in response to the topic of "density done well". These themes are (in order of importance) [1]:
- Quality urban design
- Public transport
- Housing affordability and choice
- Good public environment
- Pedestrian friendly
- Accessible places
- Community safety
- Inclusion
- Mix of uses/diversity of things to do
Other issues were discussed, but their importance was not necessarily agreed upon across the different groups, including across the three suburbs and the groups that self-selected or were randomly selected to participate. These issues were community safety, diversity of things to do, good public environment, public environment, diversity of things to do and quality design. [1]
The updated strategy has 94 recommendations, 53 for policy changes and 41 requiring state government infrastructure capital investment. [4] These recommendations were broadly grouped into four categories: confront long-term challenges, manage urban change, harness infrastructure for productivity and growth, and develop regional Victoria. [4]
The final 30-year Infrastructure Strategy was tabled in Victorian parliament mid 2021. [2]
Analysis and Lessons Learned
It was noted that stage 2, involving the half-day deliberative workshop with all focus group participants, enabled participants to share about what they had discussed in their groups, explore similarities and differences between the groups, collaborate together to develop and further refine their principles of "density done well". [1]
See Also
Participedia Case 4561 - Infrastructure Victoria Engagement Process
Victoria's Infrastructure Strategy 2021-2051 (report)
References
[1] RPS (2020) "Infrastructure Victoria 30-Year Strategy Engagement Report (Stage One and Two)". Available at: https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Density-done-well-engagement-report-FINAL.pdf
[2] Engage Victoria (n.d.) "Victoria's Draft 30-Year Infrastructure Strategy". Available at: https://engage.vic.gov.au/victorias-30-year-infrastructure-strategy
[3] Infrastructure Victoria (n.d.) "Victoria's infrastructure strategy 2021-2051". Available at: https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/project/30-year-strategy/
[4] Infrastructure Victoria (n.d.) "Victoria's Infrastructure Strategy 2021-2051". Available at: https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/victorias-infrastructure-strategy-2021-2051-home/