Citizens' Voices & Values on Covid-19

Dialogue and Deliberative Workshops on COVID-19 and the NHS (National Health Service)

• The Imperial College Health Partners and Ipsos MORI conducted six dialogue and deliberative workshops in London on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement.

• The two-stage approach aimed at producing a set of expectations to guide the NHS response to the pandemic.

• 59 participants took part in the deliberation stage of the project.

• The workshops relied on small-group discussions, plenary sessions, fictional scenarios, case studies, and expert presentations.

• The repository includes the report from the Imperial College Health Partners and Ipsos MORI.

Resilient Day (Journée de la Résilience)*

• Convened by Brussels Environmental Administration to discuss "how to make the City of Brussels more resilient."

• This city is running a survey of the citizens’ lived experiences of the lockdown (alimentation, public space, health).

• A Resilient Day will be organized in the Fall with 150 randomly selected citizens to deliberate during three days on the survey results and formulate recommendations.

Your City, Our Future – Bristol’s deliberative process on COVID-19*

• The City of Bristol is convening a three-phase deliberative process to inform its COVID-19 recovery plan.

• A diverse group of 60 randomly selected citizens will take part in a citizens’ assembly organized by Involve from January to March 2021.

• The assembly’s themes and issues have been identified through six focus groups and a city-wide survey.

• The Your City, Our Future survey can be found in the repository.

*In process

West Midlands Citizens’ Panel

• Convened by the West Midland Combined Authority, delivered by the organization BritainThinks, and supported by Engage Britain.

• 36 randomly selected panelists were tasked to provide recommendations and principles to inform the work of the West Midlands Recovery Coordination Group.

• The 8-session deliberative process included both plenary sessions and small group discussion and was conducted entirely online.

• Related resources in this repository include the report of the deliberative process and a survey based on the information generated by the panel.

Nantes Métropole Citizens’ Convention*

• Nantes Métropole and Missions Publiques are convening a citizens’ convention to explore the public perception of the crisis and the local response.

• The convention is taking place online over four sessions from November 2020 to February 2021 and its recommendations will be submitted in March 2021.

• Following a city-wide survey on the pandemic, 80 citizens were selected to represent the diversity of the region.

• The summary of the first session, written by Mission Publiques, and the results of the survey are available in the repository.

Automated vehicles**

• The Arizona State University Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes is planning in-person citizens’ forums to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on views of automated vehicle systems.

• The project follows a series of citizens’ forums held in 2018 in partnership with Missions Publiques.

• Organizers will recruit and select around 100 participants reflective of the region's diversity.

*In process

** In planning

Connecting to Congress (C2C)*

• Convened by IDEA at Ohio State University in collaboration with select Congressional districts in the United States.

• Organized as single-issue, non-partisan, online town halls. Uses deliberative town halls to share information between Members and their constituents and to help identify constituents' concerns.

• C2C recruits a representative cross-section of constituents. The event can also be shared online by the Member's office. Is open to all in that constituents who want to participate can do so.

• Related resources in this repository include background information sent to the participants before the town halls, a pre-survey, and a post-survey.

Deliberative Consultation on Trade-offs Related to Using 'COVIDSafe' Contact Tracing Technology

• Convened by the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence & Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong in collaboration with other academic partners.

• ACHEEV recruited between 6 and 8 participants per group to reflect the diversity of New South Wales (Australia). They will meet online for one facilitated session of 2.5 hours.

• Participants discussed contact tracing technology and formulated recommendations on how the COVIDSafe app should be used.

• The participant handout is included in the repository.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Framework for Decision Making - Public Engagement Exercise

• The Scottish Government launched a digital platform as part of a public engagement exercise seeking public input on decisions that would need to be made concerning the lockdown and other restrictions.

• The platform attracted 11,692 registered users, 3,274 of whom submitted a total of 4,122 ideas and 17,966 comments.

• The analysis and main conclusions of the public engagement exercise are available in a public document.

Public Input into Pandemic Planning: Deliberating trade-offs in COVID-19 policy making

• Convened by BC Data Deliberation research team.

• Online deliberative process that addresses pressing policy questions and trade-offs related to COVID-19 in British Columbia.

• Relied on facilitated deliberation in small (8 to 10) and large groups (20 to 24) with selected participants, and self-facilitated community-based deliberation with volunteers.

• Related resources in this repository include the background information booklet, the community conversation guide, and the community conversation report back template.

COVID-19 Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Community Forums: South Australia

• The South Australian Government and democracyCo conducted online forums in July 2020 with multicultural leaders.

• 250 leaders were invited to discuss the needs and concerns of their communities regarding a second wave of COVID-19

• The process included 2 x 3hr Zoom meetings (30-40 participants, discussion in small breakout rooms) and the opportunity to speak directly with public officials.

• Participants were invited to complete a survey after the workshop and share it within their networks.

• Related resources in this repertory include the structure of the survey, and the participant pack.

Oregon Citizens’ Assembly on COVID-19 Recovery

• Healthy Democracy and Oregon's Kitchen Table convened an online Citizens' Assembly on COVID-19 in July and August 2020.

• 36 randomly selected participants met over seven two-hour sessions.

• Participants narrowed their focus on education and housing issues. They heard from subject matter experts, exchanged with state legislators, and sought information about the lived experiences of Oregonians.

• The sessions were live-streamed on Healthy Democracy's YouTube Channel.

• Related resources in this repository include a copy of the recruitment postcard, notes on the methodology, and the final report.

Scottish Parliament Citizens' Panel on COVID-19

• Convened by the COVID-19 Committee of the Scottish Parliament.

• 19 randomly selected participants met online for four meetings in January and February 2021.

• First deliberative process organized virtually by the Scottish Parliament.

• An online platform was created for the participants to discuss and share information with others between the sessions.

• Related resources in this repository include notably a copy of the report.

*In process

Public Engagement Pilot Project on Pandemic Influenza Vaccine Priorities (2005) - project of US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

• Pilot project implemented in five phases: (1) two day-and-a-half meetings with 50 national stakeholders; (2) one day-long consultation with 101 citizens in the south (Atlanta), and (3-5) three half-day feedback with about 165 citizens in the east (Massachusetts), Midwest (Nebraska), and west (Oregon).

• Phase 1 stakeholders selected to reflect key interests and expertise. Recruitment of citizens in phases 2-5 "open to all" with targeted recruitment.

• Created proof-of-concept and foundation for eight additional public engagement projects on vaccine policy through 2009. Go here for a 2014 article by the project leader with case studies of all nine projects and here for a detailed 'Lessons Learned' report.

• Related resources in this repository include facilitator guide for citizen deliberation and project report with evaluation.

Extraordinary online session of the Citizens’ Convention on Climate: Finding a way out of the COVID-19 crisis

• Two days of online meetings where the members of the Convention discussed the ins and outs of a plan to find a way out of the COVID-19 crisis and the climate and social issues related to it.

• Produced two outcomes: the “Communication to French society and its leaders”, which is a document that expresses the principles underlying a way out of the crisis that does not lead to the detriment of the climate, humans, and biodiversity, and the transmission of 50 of their 150 proposed measures to the executive.

Online Public Dialogues on COVID-19 Winter Preparedness

• Ipsos MORI conducted three online workshops in the United Kingdom on behalf of the Academy of Medical Sciences

• Each of the workshops was composed of 12 participants randomly selected. The participants were recruited to represent three distinct groups: the general public; vulnerable groups; and Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.

• The goal was to explore the public’s views and priorities for dealing with a new wave of coronavirus infections.

• The repository includes the report from Ipsos MORI.

Climate Assembly UK on the COVID-19 crisis

• Commissioned by six Select Committees of the House of Commons to discuss how the UK should meet its net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target.

• The citizen's assembly moved its work online due to the COVID-19 crisis. During one session, the 110 randomly selected participants discussed the pandemic's impact on their proposals.

• Related resources in this repository include a PowerPoint presentation on the COVID-19 crisis and an interim briefing report, "COVID-19, recovery, and the path to net zero."

# LockDownDebate: Rapid online deliberation on contact tracing

• Convened by four organizations in the UK: Traverse, Ada Lovelace Institute, Involve, and Bang the Table.

• Trialed an online deliberative process that sought to provide rapid public input on the use of technology in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

• 28 randomly selected participants took part in this three-week deliberative process.

• The process included the following weekly activities: (1) 90-minute session with one or two presentations by experts and Q&A; (2) two asynchronous activities on an online platform; (3) 60-minute discussion session in small groups of eight participants.

• Related resources in the repository include an analysis of the methodology and a report on the findings.

Citizens' committee on vaccination against COVID-19

• Convened by the Conseil économique, social et environnemental (CESE) in France.

• The committee of 35 randomly selected citizens is part of a process to support the French government's vaccination strategy taking place from Winter 2021 to Fall 2021.

• The committe was created alongside an online platform for the public.

• The committee provides recommendations about the vaccination strategy and addresses the questions, fears, and ethical concerns present in the population.

Citizens’ Assembly on restrictions and recommendations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

• Convened by a group of researchers at the University of Turku in Finland for research purposes.

• A group of 70 randomly selected citizens took part in an online deliberative process to discuss measures to mitigate the propagation of COVID-19.

• The assembly was organized to study the influence of expert hearings on citizens' attitudes during a deliberative process.

• The report in Finnish is included in the repository.

Global Citizens’ and Stakeholders’ Dialogues: We, the internet**

• The Arizona State University Consortium for Science, Policy, and Outcomes is collaborating on a project on Internet governance convened by Missions Publiques.

• The themes are: “Internet and me,” “Building a strong digital identity,” “Creating an inclusive digital public sphere,” and “Governing artificial intelligence”

• The project involves a consultation with stakeholders and a deliberation process with representative groups of citizens. It will take place both in person and online.

** In planning