News of our projects, new reports, case studies and blogs
‘What should Leeds do about the emergency of climate change?’ This was the question that 25 randomly selected residents from across the Leeds city region agreed to thrash out over nine sessions between September and November 2019. Their bold recommendations make fascinating reading; taking back control of the local bus services into public ownership, the halting of local airport expansion, retrofitting of housing through local social enterprises and more.
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There is a very real desire to make Participatory Budgeting more deliberative and thoughtful. One of the concerns about voting is that it doesn’t force people to think through the options. That PB needs more deliberation. Nevertheless Jez Hall of PB Partners/Shared Future CIC argues that the vote is crucial for legitimacy and trust within a PB processes.
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There is overwhelming evidence that we are in a climate emergency. Government can seem paralysed in the face of this complex issue. This report outlines some possible ways to make some progress, based on our experience and knowledge of participatory approaches, which put citizens into the driving seat of decision-making whilst improving transparency and governance at a local authority level.
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At our free afternoon event on Tuesday 2nd July in Central Manchester, running during National Co-Production Week (1st-5th July 2019) we offered an opportunity for Health and Social Care professionals to learn about citizens inquiries, juries and assemblies and explore their increasing relevance to person-centred health care and towards supporting effective co-production. Download the event resources on this page
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“The natural world is being destroyed and it is a moral imperative to preserve and reconstitute as much of it as possible as soon as possible.” In this blog Jez Hall discusses how re-framing the debate on climate change is about how we build a fairer, greener, and political ‘shared future’. One where dialogue, social action and a people powered democracy is our new normal.
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How do the values of cooperation, social enterprise and democratic local governance link? How can we engage communities better, promote democracy and social action, and thereby effect real long-term change? Does Participatory Budgeting encourage a culture of cooperative and social enterprise. And if so, is that because of underlying common values? What do you think?
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Over recent months, as climate change has been propelled into the political mainstream, there has been an upsurge in interest in the role of deliberative processes such as Citizens’ Assemblies and Citizens’ Juries, too. An Assembly is a key demand of Extinction Rebellion, for example. Will politicians act or just nod? In this blog Pete Bryant and Rebecca Willis consider how getting the conditions right makes action more likely.
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Participatory Budgeting(PB) enables people to make their community better, starting with issues that concern us all. The biggest concern we face as a society is climate change. In this new blog Shared Future CIC’s Alan Budge connects PB and climate change.
Read more →In a recent meeting with colleagues representing different sides of the perennial social enterprise definition debate, we again stumbled, or struggled to agree. There is of course some official definitions, but everyone still seems to feel we need to broaden or narrow it. It sometimes feels like we are a lot of navel gazers dancing on the head of a pin! Which sounds difficult and dangerous.
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Citizens Assemblies have gone mainstream, no longer are they the preserve of democracy geeks. The potential of ‘mini publics‘ in bringing together a diverse group of citizens to deliberate, reach consensus and deliver a mandate for action to their local and national politicians is fascinating. Especially, when we consider the complex nature of so many problems that our elected officials must grapple with, from Brexit to artificial intelligence to climate change. Peter Bryant tells us more in his new blog.
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