Enhance decision-making and build trust in your community by engaging large audiences with one centralized tool, streamlining project management, and improving input analysis.
Explore our case studies to discover tips and best practices from successful initiatives leveraging our digital platform.
Faced with the daunting task of allocating $250 million as part of the Rams settlement fund, the City of St. Louis and the Board of Aldermen embarked on an ambitious digital community engagement strategy to involve residents in the fund allocation process from the start.
Localized flooding and poor stormwater drainage can significantly disrupt communities, causing problems from road and property damage to safety issues due to hydroplaning. In a city like Lancaster, stormwater management is particularly important as they run on a combined sewer system, meaning it collects and transports both domestic sewage and rainwater from the City’s storm drains into a single system of pipes – meaning, these pipes have a lot of work to do! As part of their collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on their larger Green Infrastructure project, the City of Lancaster is seeking to improve their community’s stormwater management quality.
By definition, comprehensive plans are complex, long-range, and broad in scope. The planning and engagement processes for these plans often take over two years to complete. This can make it difficult to establish and maintain meaningful engagement with community members throughout the process. Using CitizenLab’s user-friendly and accessible online engagement platform, the City of Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) reached thousands of residents in their planning process over 2022, all while supporting their goal for inclusive and equitable engagement.
At Go Vocal, impact isn’t just an afterthought - it’s a core part of our business.
governments and organizations of all sizes have worked with us across 20 countries
projects have been launched across all policy domains: from urban planning and climate action to mobility and participatory budgeting.
community members have engaged on our platform to shape the future of their communities by engaging in their local democracies.
“We decided to launch our platform with CitizenLab because of the ease of use - not only for our residents, but also for our teams! Today we have a centralized place where we can see community responses and assign people across departments to be administrators on projects. Now we’re engaging across departments and coming together to share best practices between teams.”
“We presented the platform to our leadership team, and they absolutely lost their minds. They are so pumped for the site and the work it will enable us to do for the Comp Plan. Your team deserves a huge thank you for being so incredibly responsive and flexible and working with us to stand our platform up on such a short timeline. We really appreciate it!”
“In addition to increasing the quantity of participants, we were able to improve the quality of our community conversations by answering direct questions and responding to concerns promptly, before misinformation and rumor mills could overtake the dialogue.”
“When you drill down into the functionality you see that CitizenLab is more flexible, visually appealing, and user-friendly... I feel the way CitizenLab’s platform is set up fosters a positive participation environment [and] the fact that the back office is so easy to use has been a massive bonus because it doesn’t scare anyone away, no matter their comfort level with technology.”
Participatory democracy is a form of government that has gained significant traction over the past years, making government more responsive and decisions more equitable. This article explores the principles, benefits, and challenges of participatory democracy, comparing it to other forms of democratic governance.
More than three-quarters of people under 30 believe that the government does not listen to them, even as policymakers make countless decisions that directly affect young people's lives. Are you seeking ways to meaningfully involve young people in decision-making? This guide addresses common questions regarding youth participation, offers practical steps, and highlights inspiring examples from governments within our Go Vocal community.
If engagement is not genuine, it can lead to engagement fatigue and a lack of trust in the government's ability to make decisions with community input. That's why it's essential to focus on creating genuine and data-driven engagement opportunities that allow citizens to have a real impact on your decision-making. Join us for a webinar in partnership with the Davenport Institute for Public Engagement and Civic Leadership, the City of Lancaster, PA, and the City of Rexburg, ID as we explore the topic of "How Does Engagement Data Affect Decision-Making?" In this session, we'll dive into the data that cities see when it comes to community engagement and how this information is used by government officials. We'll also examine what information citizens need to feel engaged and how engagement can become a critical piece of the toolkit for decision-makers. It's not just about checking a box and going through the motions of community engagement, but rather creating meaningful opportunities for citizens to impact and inform decisions. After watching this webinar, you'll come away with a better understanding of how engagement data can inform decision-making, what citizens need to feel engaged, and practical steps for creating meaningful engagement opportunities.
