In Scotland today there is growing interest in finding ways of involving people more directly in policy making. But how can people be involved in an engaging and meaningful way?
Through a unique project – a first in the UK – consisting of three citizens’ juries in three locations across Scotland, ClimateXChange, the Academy of Government and the University of Edinburgh have looked at how to directly involve diverse groups of citizens in decision making on issues that affect them.
Join the project team, including Dr Oliver Escobar and Dr Jen Roberts, to hear about the bespoke design of the juries and the research findings, and to discuss the potential for citizens’ juries to support decision making in Scotland.
The project
The three juries were asked to consider: “What should be the key principles for deciding about onshore wind farm development in Scotland, and why?”
Jurors were able to learn more about the topic before agreeing their principles. Impressively, after only two days working together, they completed the task – and almost all of the jurors said they would take part in a similar process again!
Eight out of ten jurors think citizens’ juries should be used for decisions ‘about issues that affect communities’:
‘An enjoyable and stimulating experience’
‘This is the best thing that’s happened to me in years. I’ve found my mojo’
A launch event for the report will take place on the 20 May 2015, 4:30pm-6:30pm in Edinburgh
The event is free but, as places are limited, attendance is by invitation only. If you would like to request an invitation please write to Darcy Pimblett darcy@sniffer.org.uk explaining your interest in attending.
The Citizen Participation Network includes over 500 citizens, researchers, practitioners and policy makers working in a range of policy fields in Scotland and beyond.
It is open to anyone interested in citizen participation, deliberative democracy, public engagement and collaborative policy-making.
The network is convened by Oliver Escobar. For more information, or to join the mailing list, please contact: oliver.escobar@ed.ac.uk
