deliberaTIVE DEMOCRACY resource HUB
A foundation foR discussion, learning and capacity building
We want to support others to advance the practice of deliberative engagement
across Australia and the world
Every process we deliver offers us insights. We harness this experience and contribute to the deliberative ‘wave’ of democracy and by offering our learnings, experience and knowledge, predominantly for free, and sharing them broadly.
Every resource we create reflects best practice and evidence-based thinking drawn from across 40 deliberative processes (as of August 2022) and thousands of hours of real, on-ground experience.
free guide to deliberative democracy
What is deliberative engagement? Access our free guide for an overview of what this term means, the principles that underpin it, how it’s different from other forms of engagement or democracy, why it’s worth investing in and the benefits and more.
free tips, ideas & more in our blog
MosaicLab’s newsroom is a place for sharing free content with anyone seeking to build their engagement capability or deliberative practice.
Our popular ‘monthly myth’ series, for example, tackles common misconceptions and dilemmas faced by decision makers and organisations in engagement and deliberation.
One recent example – ‘Deliberation is one time, one group, one issue’ - is a myth that explores alternative deliberative engagement models that go beyond the standard approach to deliberative democracy.
the mosaiclab academy
As part of our commitment to sharing our knowledge upskilling others in the fields of facilitation, community engagement and deliberative democracy, we’ve developed the MosaicLab Academy, a suite of virtual and face-to-face training experiences that are innovative and interactive.
The academy has its own, dedicated, online learning platform, where learners can explore our courses, which are delivered by experienced MosaicLab practitioners who actively design and deliver real projects.
Report - participant survey research report
We conducted a six-year, longitudinal study across 23 deliberative engagement projects that surveyed 741 deliberative participants and sought to answer the question: Does deliberative democracy make a difference?
We are excited to share the findings of the report which highlight the transformative, powerful impact that deliberative engagement can have when applied in a principled way and integrated into public decision making.
We are sharing this research so engagement professionals, organisations, practitioners or researchers can use the results as a basis for positive advocacy.
free pdf downloads
Our suite of free downloads support everyone to enhance their engagement practice. Our growing library of downloads is accessible to anyone who subscribes to our e-newsletter, the Discussion.
Deliberative resources include:
deliberative principles
a deliberation ready test
critical thinking resources
and much more!
free videos
Our library of videos includes educational resources about deliberative engagement that offer inspiration, ideas and knowledge.
The library includes everything from an animation outlining what deliberative engagement is through to insightful interviews with deliberative process decision makers, participants, industry leaders and more.
handbook - deliberative engagement for victorian councils
This free handbook was created to help local government organisations embed deliberative practice in decision-making.
It contains advice relevant to any organisation undertaking a deliberative process, however, it was specifically designed to support Victorian councils working to implement the Local Government Act Victoria 2020.
The Act states that councils must adopt a community engagement policy that includes deliberative engagement practices for the development of key plans and policies.
MosaicLab all time deliberation stats
As part of our commitment to ongoing evidence-based work, MosaicLab has been collecting and analysing our deliberation activities between 2017 and 2022, and we have some pretty cool data to share!
Thank you to the 1880 everyday people we have worked with throughout these 40 deliberations.
We plan to keep collecting data over the coming months and years, as well as extend our research into the impact and legacy of this work. So, if you have ever worked with us on a deliberative project, please get ready for us to come back and find out what happened with the work.
facilitating deliberation - a practical guide
MosaicLab directors Kimbra White, Nicole Hunter and Keith Greaves have released a book -the comprehensive, practical guide to facilitating public deliberations.
Drawn from their experience delivering 39 deliberative engagement processes, the book is full of insider secrets, authentic lessons learned and step-by-step advice.
It is available in print or as a digital download.
DELIBERATION DATA
Since 2014 MosaicLab has designed and delivered 40 deliberative engagement processes across Australia.
In 2022, we produced two major pieces of research to capture the collective impact of these processes: our all-time deliberation stats and a report showing the results of before-and-after surveys taken by participants between 2017 and 2022.
report - measuring participant change across 10 victorian councils
MosaicLab has been measuring the transformative impact of deliberative engagement in decision making.
This report incorporates two years of research into the perceptions of 314 deliberative process participants across 10 local government deliberations.
The results tell us that deliberation results in significantly increased trust, higher likelihood to engage in civic affairs and more.
project case studies
We document a selection of our deliberative engagement processes through the development of in-depth case studies. These case studies help us to document lessons learned, key success factors and share insights and reflections from participants, project teams, facilitators, and decision makers.
MOSAICLAB’S DELIBERATION DICTIONARY
As part of our commitment to increasing our own, and others’, knowledge around deliberative democracy we decided to pull together a list of commonly used terms in this field. This led us to the development of the inaugural Deliberation Dictionary!
We hope to build on this base over the coming months and years and provide this central reference as a ‘go to’ for people who are working in, or are new to, this type of work.