EIP Autumn Meeting
Customer focus, e-democracy and reaching communities, Birmingham 25th October 2006
As first proposed at the summer meeting, workgroups are now setting out to develop detail that underpins all segments of the group’s agreed Framework.
The segment of the framework that still needs most exploration is the whole area of community focus and accessibility. How do we get beyond Citizens Panels and other well tried approaches to reach out to the hard to reach and other identifiable groups? What should the goals and targets be? What combination of new and old methods makes best sense?
e-democracy (interpreted in its broadest sense) clearly has much to offer. But how do we tie that into the customer function? And could local authority involvement invalidate the essential ground roots base of e-democracy forums? Is there a level of ‘being local’ that authorities simply cannot reach? Or should they be getting stuck in?
The objectives for the day are
- To understand the potential of e-democracy by receiving presentations from national and international pioneers;
- To understand approaches to community involvement that have helped to shape customer services by receiving practitioner presentations;
- To debate and discuss in order to share experience;
- To complete a checklist of key points for managers who are taking or considering incorporating e-democracy approaches into their community contact strategies by working with our invited experts.
This meeting continues the drive to develop underpinning detail for our framework and should be useful in its own right for all involved in getting closer to the community.
Participation
All members of the EIP Group are welcome. Colleagues who are not formally members of the group but are validated by a member are also welcome. Log-in to download the meeting brochure or book your place online.
Cost to members is £225 + vat. This includes a £50 surchase to cover the travel costs of our invited US speaker.
Officers and members from non-member authorities should contact the group's co-ordinator, Angus Doulton (01869 350559) to discuss attendance.
The results from the day with a final version of the checklist produced will be available to all members.
Programme
- 09:30
- Coffee and Welcome
- 10:00
- Introduction: Objectives for the day; e-democracy within the context of the EIP group’s framework.
Angus Doulton - 10:10
- e-democracy: potential to date.
Tim Ericksson has pioneered e-democracy from its start up in US and has given much support to ongoing UK projects.
www.e-democracy.org/uk/ - 10:50
- Coffee
- 11:15
- Reaching communities in Sheffield and connecting them with the customer function
Jo Hallam, Assistant Head of Customer Services. Sheffield has achieved Best Practice Charter Mark for community engagement - 11:50
- e-democracy: Top-down or Bottom-up?
Carol Hayward, Corporate Consultation Manager, Bristol City Council - 12:20
- ICELE: The International Centre for e-democracy
Fraser Henderson - 12:40
- Lunch
- 13:30
- Working session
Group develops checklist by working with our invited experts - 15:30
- Close
Workshop: Additionally, Tim Ericksson is prepared to run a half-day workshop on establishing e-democracy projects on the morning of 26 October at a cost of £85.00. If you would like to participate in this please email admin@cdwassociates.co.uk now. The workshop will run if there is sufficient take-up.
Networking
As always there will be plenty of opportunity for networking
Venue: Jury’s Inn, Birmingham
Birmingham is either equally awful or equally easy to reach but it is sort of central and we have found it reasonably convenient in the past. There is a direction map at
http://tinyurl.com/hrt6r