Designing for Civil Society

Grassroots media podcasts Cameron

I'm glad to see that Nick Booth continues to expand the coverage offered by Podnosh, the Birmingham-based channel offering - as I wrote earlier - online recordings of local conversations and activities. Nick reports in his blog:

David Cameron was in Birmingham again today - to give a Chamberlain Lecture on how he sees the relationship between government and communities.
In fact the leader of the opposition was in my own neighbourhood Balsall Heath, an area he admires for the extent to which citizens and volunteers have taken control of their own streets. The Grassroots Channel programme I am the grass now reported on how people here would prefer to volunteer to keep their police stations open  rather than leave a vacuum in their streets.
The truth is that Balsall Heath's revival has been despite government, rather than because of it, and Mr Cameron belives there is much to learn from the people and the streets of this vibrant (yes it is fab) multi-culturural community. So where does that leave someone who wants to lead a Conservative government?  Confused or clear about how government can get out of the way and let people make good choices?
You can find out here. Listen to his speech by clicking on this link, read the speech by clicking here and find out what the good people of Balsall Heath had to ask David Cameron by clicking here.

Podnosh offers a full recording of the lecture, and of the question and answer session afterwards. Cameron was talking about the need to rebuild social as well as economic well-being, and as the BBC reported wants to put the voluntary sector and local democracy "at the heart of a drive to restore local pride and give communities more control."
Podnosh works with the Birmingham Community Empowerment Network, and is a great (and relatively rare) example of how local community and voluntary organisations can develop their own voice online.
However a quick Google showed that (as usual) it is a mistake to believe "community" has one voice. Indymedia Birmingham has a highly sceptical report of Cameron's previous visit to Balsall Heath in January in the wake of tornado damage. They felt it was all a photo-op for Cameron to be filmed if not by national media at least his in-house team of publicists. They also take a pop at the local community organisation, the Balsall Heath Forum.

Whilst voluntary organisations like the Balsall Heath Forum have eulogised Cameron’s Tory Party’s newly found interest in the voluntary sector, it is also worth pointing out the role the Forum appointed for itself as a broker between local people and the City Council after the Tornado. Some have even gone as far as to say the Forum has effectively hijacked much of the initial grassroots interest in self- recovery for its own ends. Last year, the Forum hosted a series of events led by Dick Atkinson to solicit views from local people and traders about redeveloping the area in a focus group, ‘fantasy re-development’ scenario. Atkinson offered to collate and process ideas generated into a report to hand to the Council.
Atkinson’s report, however, differed substantially from the original ideas expressed by local people so much so that many people commented that his report reflected his own plans for the area and that of the Forum over local grassroots plans. A glaring omission in the report was a suggestion by local people to mobilise and demonstrate about the Council’s negligence over asbestos removal and other issues.

I don't know the ins and outs of the Balsall Heath community politics, but it seems wholly good for local democracy that different views of local and national affairs are emerging in media that are under local control. Every blogger - and indymedia channel - needs an audience, and there's nothing like a bit of argument to get people involved.

Internet tribes examined ... sociably

Internet users contributing content can appear to be rather different tribes. There are the independent bloggers who are single voices loosely linked, and the hoards gathering together in forums and chat rooms. Then there are the social networkers using  platforms that provide blogs and other facilities in one place - for example, ecademy for business and myspace for younger networkers.
It can be very confusing, particularly if you are trying to work out which way to go to help people talk or work together online.
Fortunate the professionals who work on these different models have generally resisted the sort of techie wars that can so easily develop, and this was very evident at tonight's meeting of emint, originally set up by online community managers. We had news that emint is formalising its constitution and making some close links with an organisation representing social networks. There may be funding in prospect. I think I got that right ... but this was maximum sociability in a Covent Garden pub, so we may have to wait for a more formal communique.
Meanwhile we had Nancy White, over from Seattle for a few weeks in the UK, directly addressing the question: "What happens when you talk about Blogs and Community in one breath?"
To quote from the invite  "Nancy is an internationally recognised expert in understanding and practising online group facilitation of distributed work, learning and community groups - work which requires her to fluidly take on the roles of presenter, writer, teacher, coach, facilitator, and rapporteur."  She knows the business. Until a few years ago she was in the "communities" tribe, and - she says - only took up blogging to demonstrate to herself that it wasn't much use. She found otherwise ... a few posts and she was overwhelmed with "welcome to the blogosphere" comments and links, making explicit a social network much wider than she expected.
Nancy says she currently sees three types of blog-based "communities":

• people who cluster, comment and blog around one strong voice - perhaps a political commentator
• bloggers with a shared passion who link to each other and operate as crowd. Apparently foodies are very strong online in the US.
• bloggers who use one multi-blog platform for their shared interest. Nancy gave the example of parents of premature babies sharing their stories at March of Dimes.

Nancy also threw in a a reference to the six non-exclusive functions of networks, drawn - I think - from the work of Richard Portes and Stephen Yeo. These are explained here as filter, amplify, Invest/provide, convene, build communities, and facilitate.
I had to leave part-way through the ensuing discussion, but it seemed to me that we were beginning to get some really useful ways of thinking about communities, networks, blogs in terms of what we hope that they will achieve.

Robin Hamman who co-organised the event with Lizzie Jackson, was wielding a serious microphone on behalf of Radio Five Live's Up all Night: pods and blogs so we may get a more definitive account of the evening. The main lesson from these occasions, of course, is that you can't do it all online. It takes networky people, a good venue and your networking juice of choice.
Why emint? Well, the first meeting was in The Mint.

Update: Robin Hamman has blogged the event here, and Lizzie Jackson has explained on the emint list that emint is indeed formalised in that it has a steering committee and constitution. Funding will be on the agenda at the next annual general meeting.
Nancy has now put up a full version of her talk, in five blog posts starting here and ending here.

New engagement technique!!! A pile of old postcards ...

Sometimes I come across an engagement technique which is so simple and powerful it produces the delight of discovery and use equivalent too ... well, insert your favourite tool. I  hesitate to say good software, because this is definitely non-tech.
So it was at the Collaboration Convention run last week by my friends at ruralnet|uk and their partners. The whole event was delightful, with plenty of different workshop choices on networking, participation, and joint service delivery with or without added technology. The cybercafe in the centre of Hilton Hotel, Warwick,  offered free wifi and refreshments and created a hub for face-to-face and online communication.

The technique I discovered was in the Participatory Working session run by Gray-King and Gray Ltd, where Elizabeth and Peter were sharing the expertise they and colleagues use in projects, and also offer as part of the ruralnet Experts Online service (questions answered within 24 hours).
There on a table was a spread of postcards ... holiday destinations, cartoons, people, animals, places. The technique was ultra simple ....just pose a question, then look for a postcard which serves as a metaphor for the point participants want to make. Each then takes it in turns to explain it. We used the cards to ask "what annoys you about getting access to information in your community?"

We scrabbled around and soon found walls to climb, unhelpful people to deal with, closed doors, flowers we might need to offer - and much more, less literal. It got us talking.
As Maitrisara, our guide in the exercise explained, the postcard table can be used to ask a whole range of questions - from "why did you come to this meeting?" to  "what do you like about living in your area?" and " what would you like changed".

The postcards seem to bring out a more reflective, almost poetic mood in the participants. It seems to evoke a more heart-felt response to the question which helps to build relationships between the group more quickly. The attention on the picture both helps the person to articulate what they want to say, adds a dimension to the explanation, and seems to help to overcome shyness as the focus is on the picture not the person speaking. It certainly makes their contribution more memorable. The postcards are a rather nice recycling project in their own right as there are lots of birthday cards, postcard and free things in art galleries and shops which can all be put to good use.

What struck me about the technique was that it shifted us into the sort of conversation we might have anytime, anywhere ... and out of the usual participation workshop world of post-it notes and flip charts. It was comfortable, fun, low-cost, and anyone could do it. I admire consultants prepared to follow and share that approach.
Of course, collaboration and engagement take more than techniques, however useful. As Simon Berry, chief executive of ruralnet|uk reminded us on the day:

'Collaboration is an endangered word, and there is a risk of it going along the same path as the word 'partnership' if we are not careful.
.. . . collaboration is an order of magnitude more challenging and complex than competition. Real collaboration needs trust, a shared set of values and a clear understanding of what's in it for each of the collaborators.  This takes time to establish and to maintain.'

I rather take that for granted at ruralnet|uk events.... and they've got the list of partners to show for it. (OK, declaration of interest, I'm one. But what's the point of blogging if you can't give some cheer to your friends?)

Update: Elizabeth Gray-King has kindly sent me a fuller explanation of the postcards technique:

This is an invaluable way to gather opinion on almost any subject.  A number of postcards are laid out on a table or floor or any other surface.
In this image, there are over 100 of all sorts of images from scenes to people to animals and more. People select postcards to let the image expand their feelings about an issue.  In this photograph, people were asked their frustration with accessing information.  Each person chose a postcard and then explained their frustrations.  The beauty of the method is its inclusivity and the drive for information from direct sources.
This is not the classic research method of a researcher guessing frustrations, asking respondents to rank their agreement or not and then taking further comment.  This method has nothing between the participant and their opinion - only the tool to help them describe.  Valuable indeed is its ability to cut across all levels of literacy.  Explaining a picture and how that describes an opinion (issue, thought, etc) needs no written word or practised argument.  Even for those who are not comfortable speaking in a group, the action of describing a picture (holding it, looking at it, occasionally looking at the group) means that the the participant almost 'forgets' that they are speaking to a group. 
Further benefits are the physical closeness of participants as they choose, often profoundly helping a disparate group learn to trust. It has been used to help a Healthy Living Partnership decide its future, a Citizen's Advice Bureau 'unpack' why some people are excluded from their services, a group of new Ministers/Priests show expectations of their ministry, a group of residents in a deprived housing estate decide their learning priorities and much much more.

Collaborative conversations ... just pull up a rug

After my mini-moan about over-formality at the Together We Can launch, I'm on the look out for good ways of running collaborative events ... and up pops a great example from Proboscis, a creative studio that manages to mix arts, culture and technology in tackling serious community concerns.
On Saturday they organised an open dialogue on Cultures of Listening  for Interdependence Day at the Royal Geographic Society. The dialogue took the form of a series of conversations between an invited group of artists, social scientists, teachers, researchers, curators and policymakers at a picnic in Kensington Gardens, just across from the RGS. Giles Lane writes:

Our aim was to use the informal setting of a picnic and our role as hosts to bring together a diverse group and stimulate conversations, rather than hold a more formal debate or discussion. This placed the emphasis of the dialogue on being a culture of listening rather being about one. After an hour and a half of introducing people to each other and connecting conversations, the group came together to reflect on what we had heard and said, followed by more conversation and connections over lunch.

That's it then. Next time a Government department wishes to show a little flair they can invite us to a picnic. Of course, they can't rely on the sort of weather enjoyed last Saturday. It may just be a matter of shifting the chairs in the atrium, or clearing the conference room  and putting down a few cushions. Powerpoint and flip charts should be banned, and instead an artwork commissioned to celebrate the occasion. Proboscis promises one from Camilla Brueton in a few weeks. Count me in.

Loosening up for more trust and togetherness

The UK Government's programme to "break down the barriers between the public and government institutions" seemed in official good heart  with the launch of a first annual review of Together We Can, and some well-orchestrated presentations. Now I think it's time to loosen up.
The TWC magazine showcases a host of good stories about active citizens engaged in regenerating their neighbourhoods, and a dozen Ministers contributed their signed commitments to the review document. The Community Channel is this week broadcasting stories of civic pioneers making a difference in their neighbourhoods. Civil servants with community and neighbourhood concerns are now housed together in the Department for Communities and Local Government, making joined-up action more achievable.
The launch event last week had a panel of Ministers and partners on show to introduce the report and answer questions from Press and various others associated with the programme.  I have to declare an interest - I was at the launch with Drew Mackie because we have funding for the Engagement Game.
Amidst the fairly standard Q and A there were two interesting interventions. One came from a community activist - "a volunteer, just someone off the street" - who recounted the experience of his organisation in trying to get follow-on funding for their work on the  TWC Guide Neighbourhood programme. They did the rounds of local government and public agencies, received encouragement and promises of decisions shortly. "We waited, and we waited, we called ... but nothing came of it". The familiar grassroots cry about government: if they ask, they don't listen, if they listen they don't deliver.
Edward Andersson from Involve followed up, very politely, with a question about capacity building. This is the prescription for any perceived under-achievement by community and voluntary organisations and volunteers. Edward asked something to the effect that if engagement and collaboration  required new attitudes and skills, maybe Civil Servants could have their capacity built too? I know this is on the Government's agenda, but we didn't learn anything to our advantage on the day.
There was an announcement about the Every Action Counts scheme that will invest £4 million over three years in helping community groups get involved in small-scale environmental action. There will be direct support, including advice from more than 1000 Every Action Counts Champions. The Environment Secretary David Miliband couldn't get to the TWC event, but the Department's official responsible, Jill Rutter, gave it a good send off.  I felt there was some real enthusiasm there, and the programme has an impressive range of partners.
The chance to network before and after the set-piece event was really useful, with Civil Servants doing their best to be helpful within the limits of discretion, and no doubt still working out how the new arrangements will operate.
However, I did still feel some slight dissatisfaction. On reflection, I think it was because for all the talk of WE this was so obviously an US (government) event. I think that reflects a major difficulty implicit in TWC. It has to face in so many different directions. While the most visible aspect is about promoting collaborations like Every Action Counts, behind the scenes the effort is on getting 12 Government departments to collaborate. Each has budgets to defend, procedures to follow, styles of doing things - and politicians to promote.
In a government famous for its obsession with control, nothing must be out of place - so the default way of organising is tidy, and that of communicating is broadcasting.
I left wondering what a WE event would be like. No top table, more time for conversation, real faces instead of video clips, and better ways to make connections and develop ideas that would help take things forward. The TWC conferences offer some of those opportunities, but even those are highly choreographed.

I feel it's worth raising these issues of style, because that's often where "the barriers between the public and government institutions"  really exist. I'm currently re-reading Patrick Lencioni's excellent Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team and the associated Field Guide. You can download the deceptively simple model that underlies the work. It's a triangle - as you'll see if you click the image - with different levels. I think they are relevant not just to teams, but also to wider collaborations.

The main message is that collaboration requires trust and commitment, and you'll only get this if you are prepared to entertain some conflict and also to show some vulnerability.
Few politicians do vulnerability, and most are desperately keen to show a united front when presenting their partnerships. We all know, of course, that behind the scenes it isn't like that. The media tries to find the cracks in the facade, while we citizens become more and more disillusioned with the protestations that all is well.
At the launch event, the Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion, Phil Woolas, said that surveys showed an increase of trust among citizens in recent years. I think Together We Can is one of the best hopes that Government has for building on successful collaborations and developing trust  ... if it can loosen up a bit.
Update: I've just spotted that Demos has an official response to the TWC annual review. They conclude there is plenty to celebrate, but "some parts of the government machine are still undermining these efforts - new forms of accountability and better support for the professionals undertaking this work are needed for participation to become the expectation rather than the exception."