OUR SERVICES

Design

We design participatory and deliberative democracy processes that put citizens at the centre of policy-making.  Our goal is meaningful engagement for those whose voice is most often ignored. Including young people, minorities, or disengaged and ignored communities. We have designed engagement processes at a neighbourhood, town, district, regional and national level.  

Members of our team have run over 30 citizens juries and assemblies over the past 20 years. We have been at the forefront of participatory budgeting in England, Scotland and Wales. We design radical and innovative projects that draw on our internationally recognised expertise and networks. 

Work with us if you are a decision maker anxious to harness the creativity, knowledge and experience of citizens, neighbourhoods and communities. Or if you are a citizen anxious to find innovative ways of ensuring local voices are amplified. 

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OUR SERVICES

Facilitation

Bringing together diverse everyday citizens to share experiences, knowledge and ideas and to strive to reach consensus is not easy.  Our wonderful communities are rich with people with different ways of communicating, learning and being. Many of us feel reluctant to speak in public whilst others feel all too comfortable to do so.  

Alongside hosting serious discussion, we value creative approaches, including using theatre, drawing, movement and humour. We work face to face, online or both together within our hybrid long form deliberations. Our job is to nurture seldom heard voices and enable their ideas to be expressed and valued so that UK society gains the full potential of passionate citizens, when they come together. Whilst ensuring expertise of all types can inform the exchange and enable fresh perspectives to emerge.

As a team we have worked in a wide variety of often challenging situations on a wide diversity of topic, including working with survivors of child abuse to township residents in South Africa. In our processes we elevate those  experiencing poor mental health, living in poverty or facing rural exclusion, on sensitive topics like substance addiction, community safety or isolation. We specialise in issues around climate, fair transitions and adaptation to a changing planet. We also facilitate conversations between peers and experts, such as policy forums, orthrough working with groups of elected members

Work with us if you wish to bring together a group of people, large or small, and need our skills to ensure common purpose is built. Whether it’s a one off meeting or a long series of activities, we ensure everyone’s contributions are valued and their full potential, whether in the room, or online, is realised.

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OUR SERVICES

Training

Over the last 15 years we have delivered training to hundreds of groups and individuals. In general we design each training activity from scratch, matching your precise requirements. Using a mixture of learning styles and approaches, we can deliver expert content on community engagement, deliberative democracy, participatory budgeting and much more.

Our bespoke training has been delivered internationally for organisations such as the World Bank. We especially like working with small diverse groups of residents and activists running their own deliberative or participatory processes. 
During our long running support to Participatory Budgeting in Scotland we delivered training to officers, activists and elected officials from all 32 Scottish Local Authorities. We recently trained Shipley Town Council to run their own citizens’ jury on climate change. Our training can be face to face or online.

Work with us if you are looking for excellent trainers, on a wide range of topics such as local democracy, citizen engagement and community development. We will work with you to design the right programme for your staff, peers or community.

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OUR SERVICES

Support

Shared Future is a social enterprise that seeks to empower and support anyone working for a fairer, more equal society. We are always happy to have an initial chat to help explore your needs and dilemmas. Whether it’s setting up a new project or service, exploring issues around democratic exclusion, or seeking to secure support for a climate assembly, we have helped hundreds of people.

We also produce a range of free toolkits and resources, or can signpost you to where you can find the support you need. We are busy, passionate people working across the UK, and don’t have capacity to answer every call for assistance. But we will do whatever we can to help lay firm foundations for your next steps. Where appropriate we can agree more in depth training, facilitation or design services.

Work with us if you are seeking to grow something bigger, more exciting, or more challenging. We have a huge range of skills within our team of directors, staff and associates.

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