Workshop 1 amy pollard

Introducing public

dialogue

Amy PollardDialogue Manager, Sciencewise

Twitter @AmyRPollard

www.sciencewise-erc.org.uk

What is public dialogue?

A process of engagement that brings

together members of the public, policy

makers and experts

• to discuss in depth, and where possible

reach conclusions about a particular

issue.

• to highlight the social, ethical and

practical issues raised by up-coming

policies.

• to make more robust decisions

reflecting (rather than at odds with)

public values.2

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The engagement spectrum

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Decide Announce Defend vs

Engage Deliberate Decide

Costs of decisions

Simple, uncontroversial decisions

A narrow engagement approach is likely to be more cost effective

Costs of decisions

Complex, controversial decisions

Invest in extensive engagement upfront to prevent costs spiralling out of control longer-term

ExtensiveNarrow

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What can change?

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What does it mean in practice?

• Bringing together ‘the whole system in

the room’ – the public, experts and

policy makers

• Independent facilitators

• Clear expectations of the extent of

public influence (informing but not

deciding)

• An informed discussion

• Often meeting more than once,

allowing time for reflection

• Evaluation afterwards

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Impact on policy

• Opens up potential for movement on

controversial areas of policy

• Delivers significant cost savings

• Increases responsiveness and

accountability of policy

• Supports behaviour change

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Success factors

• Direct involvement of policy-makers

• Policy-maker responsibility to commission

• Strong, timely links to policy

• Scale and representation

• Strong governance and oversight

• Balanced and impartial information

• Good relationships with public participants

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Sciencewise is…..

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Sciencewise Resources

Project funding and support

Dialogue & Engagement Specialists

Training and Mentoring

Social Intelligence & Research

Website

Newsletter

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