Even better than MosaicLab’s two award wins and one highly commended mention was the opportunity for us to reconnect with our fellow engagers at the first face-to-face IAP2 Australasia Conference in three years.

A total of 380 engagement practitioners descended on Melbourne between 26 and 28 October for the industry event, which this year had the theme ‘Brave. New. World.’

MosaicLab’s stand in the exhibition area carried its trademark colourful branding and included a ‘spin and win’ wheel. Three directors – Nicole Hunter, Keith Greaves and Kimbra White – joined members of the MosaicLab team at the event.

Nicole and Keith also featured on two separate panel sessions as part of the conference program.

Nicole took part in a discussion about 'Unconscious Bias in Engagement'. The presentation focused on the different types of unconscious bias that can be present during engagement processes and how to identify and reduce their impact.

To learn more about unconscious bias in engagement, access our free download here.

Keith spoke to ‘What do decision makers really want’. Turns out, what they want is HELPP (yes, two Ps).

H is for Habits: and changing them internally; E is for Enable: don’t lead them to the answer; L is for Licence to operate (derisk, to Star Trek - to boldy go); P is for People: making sure the right ones are here and the second P is for Problem: sharing it up front and saying ‘I don’t have the answers’.

“It was fabulous to be back in the room with friends and colleagues from around the country,” Nicole Hunter said.

“The extent and quality of our colleagues’ work was so fascinating to hear about – so wide ranging and impactful!

“One conversation stands out for me, how someone who had recently been in policy was, only that week, helping someone in social housing accommodation recover from an overdose. This sort of adaptability of our work speaks volumes. Thanks for the conversations, everyone!”

Next year's IAP2A conference is in Brisbane, 25 – 27 October 2023.

“It was fabulous to be back in the room with friends
and colleagues from around the country.”

— Nicole Hunter

WINNER, WINNER!

MosaicLab was thrilled to experience some humbling accolades at the conference, where the winners of the Core Values Awards 2022 were announced.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners and highly commended recipients. Here’s how we did:

Winner: Environment Award

Barwon Water and MosaicLab for "Water for our Future: how can we create a water future that balances all our needs?"

The judges noted that the joint entry demonstrated “a good solid process that went above and beyond. The use of the panel to consider and distill the ideas submitted by the community was a great initiative, both to manage the volume of feedback but also to provide a level of independence in the outputs".

MosaicLab directors said: “It was such an honour to work with Barwon Water and their community on such a worthwhile project.”

Read more about this award-winning project in the Barwon Water case study.

Winner: Planning Award

Yarra Valley Water and MosaicLab for "Amplifying unheard voices to deliver what all customers value"

The judges commented: "The efforts put into ensuring broad, deep, diverse engagement was extraordinary. The effort made to engage with a wide range of voices is to be commended, particularly the involvement of Expression Australia, Vision Australia, the LOTE agency, as well as the establishment of the Aboriginal Community Working Group. Needs to be shared far and wide!"

MosaicLab directors said: “This was such an amazing project with many diverse voices. Thank you for including us in this journey Yarra Valley Water.”

Read more about a previous collaboration between MosaicLab and Yarra Valley Water in the Citizens’ jury case study.

HIGHLY COMMENDED

Highly Commended: Research Award

MosaicLab for "The Value of Deliberative Democracy"

The judges commented: "A clear and admirable dedication to advancing the practice using deep and meaningful research. It is evident that a huge amount of time was dedicated to conducting the research, documenting the key findings and sharing the knowledge gained.”

“The comparison of pre-deliberative engagement and post-deliberative engagement is interesting and valuable to the industry in assessment the value of this resource intensive, often high-cost engagement method. The results indicating the participants have their faith restored in engagement and would participate again is encouraging. The tool kit being made available to the profession is commendable and was a very positive element of this submission."

Read more about this deliberative democracy research.