Blog

The Go Vocal blog: ideas and insights on community engagement

Practical advice, research and stories from the people who run community engagement every day. Read about strategy, budgeting, inclusion and what is working for local governments around the world.

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5 minutes

Participation without policy is a microphone nobody plugged in

Governments have become very good at engaging residents. Yet much of that participation never reaches the decisions leaders care about most. So how can policy and participation reinforce each other?

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4 minutes

What's new on Go Vocal: reach more residents, run participation your way, and prove your results

Six updates, built around three things municipalities keep asking for: reaching more residents, running participation the way your community actually needs it, and results you can stand behind. Here's a look at what's changing.

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Participation

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6 minutes

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Pioneers #1: Audrey Tang, Taiwan's Digital Minister

Born in 1981 in Taiwan, Audrey Tang has made waves as a software programmer and civic hacker-turned-Digital Minister.

Participation

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6 minutes

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Offline vs. Online participation: A Case Study of Mol & Temse

Citizen participation may be hot and happening right now, but it’s not a new phenomenon.

Participation

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6 minutes

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How to measure the impact of community engagement and your platform

If you're committed to continuous improvement in your community engagement efforts, you need a clear understanding of your current performance. Measuring community engagement KPIs helps assess your participation projects and strategy, improve processes, and show how public input shapes decisions. But which ones should you look at? Let's have a closer look at some of the key metrics to track engagement.

Strategy & Budgeting

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6 minutes

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How a participatory budget helps you reach a more diverse audience

Participatory budgeting — or, in plain English, involving community members in the allocation of public funds —is a powerful tool for cities to empower communities and co-create more pleasant, accessible, and equitable cities.

Participation

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6 minutes

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Driving leadership buy-in for community engagement: expert tips from our cofounder Aline Muylaert

As one of CitizenLab’s co-founders, current Commercial Director, and previous Head of Government Success, Aline Muylaert has extensive experience working with local governments to develop and implement successful community engagement initiatives. We sat down for an interview with Aline to discuss the importance of leadership buy-in and ambition in building a culture of engagement.

Environment & Sustainability

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5 minutes

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Community engagement for environmental justice and sustainability

On everything from clean water and waste management to access to sustainable transportation, it is crucial to put environmental justice at the forefront of your sustainability plans, and community engagement can be an essential tool to achieving this.

Participation Strategy

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6 minutes

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Radical vs incremental change: what is the difference?

In a time where problems with governance can be overwhelming, governments are frantically searching for a solution. There is a constant debate about how exactly a government should go about facilitating change, whether that be with incremental improvement or radical change.

Participation Strategy

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6 minutes

Community engagement success plan: free template

A comprehensive community engagement strategy is key to ensuring the smooth launch of – and satisfying outcomes for – projects. Before initiating a project, it’s best to set clear objectives, define roles and responsibilities, and select the most promising communication channels. Looking for some guidance? Discover Go Vocal’s Engagement Success Plan and how it can help you design your strategy.

Participation Strategy

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7 minutes

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5 Indices & Frameworks to Evaluate E-participation

Below, we are listing 5 metrics, tools, solutions and frameworks which are useful to measure how governments are performing when it comes to implementing e-participation initiatives. This article is the second of our e-Participation series. If you haven’t read “The Framework That Will Make You Understand E-participation” yet, hop over there and read it first.

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