Standing panels can offer an effective alternative to the more familar deliberative model of one group deliberating around one issue. They offer an opportunity to embed deliberative practice in decision making efficiently, and they’re already being delivered in Australia.
We’re honoured to be partnering with two organisations to design and deliver two of the first standing panels in Australia, both of which have become ongoing, long-term panel processes. This is an opportunity to continually build and share our learnings as we refine our facilitation practice over time.
Let’s explore what standing panels are, some key considerations to keep in mind when planning for them, and two examples of real standing panels that are currently in operation.
why standing panels stand out
Standing panels are deliberative engagement processes, and they must be built on the same principles any other deliberative model would be.
This includes selecting panellists through a random, stratified recruitment process undertaken independently of the host organisation.
There are a few key features of standing panels though that differ from the deliberative process we tend to see as ‘standard’ in Australia. These include:
the panel operates over a longer period e.g. eight or more sessions over two years.
the panel tackles multiple issues or topics, delving into a series of hard problems.
the panellists become highly informed, developing a deep understanding of the host organisation’s operating environment and the key challenges inherent in service delivery.
panellists build a strong, trusted relationship with the organisation’s leaders, the facilitators and each other, priming them to work together cohesively and efficiently.
the panel itself may not have an ‘end date’', instead, it can continue operating, and panel members have a defined ‘term’ for their involvement and are refreshed regularly through random selection.
Standing panels can result in a range of potential benefits. These include:
resourcing efficiencies - as the one standing panel could replace multiple processes particularly for organisations such as councils that engage around many issues
the opportunity for the organisation to build trust in decision making more broadly (rather than in one decision)
quality, informed outputs being fed continuously into decision-making resulting in better outcomes
considerations for standing panel success
Every standing panel process and each individual panel session needs to be carefully designed around the critical elements such as the topic, participant needs and agreed outcomes.
Here are some examples considerations that are likely to apply to every standing panel.
A close working relationship between the facilitation team and the host organisation is key, becoming a trusted partnership over time.
The facilitation approach must build in time for connection. The participants need to build trust - trust between themselves, between them and and the host organisation, and between them and the facilitators.
Early, careful planning around topic selection and problem definition is critical.
Information provided must be accessible and easy to undertstand, and sufficient time provided to allow the group to grapple with those inputs.
Fast turnaround times for post-session reporting is key to ensure outputs are useful for decision-making.
It is recommended that the panel is given opportunities to select their own topics as well as tackling organisation-selected issues.
The relationship with the panel needs to be maintained through ongoing communication and connection, and they need to meet regularly.
The group must be rotated out - ideally after a one-year term - which ensures the panellists are truly representative of the community and don’t become part of the ‘system’, open to undue influence or viewing themselves as a replacement for decision-makers.
The panel needs sufficient time to deliberative over each topic, and the sessions should be designed to allow for a deep dive into each issue.
Just like any deliberative process, representativeness is important, and this is only possible if recruitment is run effectively. A communication campaign to ensure as many people as possible are aware of and interested .in the opportunity will help to build EOI responses.
STANDING PANEL SnaPSHOTS
MosaicLab is currently working with two Victorian councils to deliver ongoing standing panels.
Mornington peninsula shire citizens’ panel
2022 - PRESENT
Building on the success of the Mornington Peninsula Shire (MPS) Citizens’ Panel 2021 (Imagine Peninsula 2040), in 2022, MosaicLab partnered with council to design and deliver Australia’s first standing panel.
The MPS Citizens’ Panel met over a nine-month period to provide ‘lived experience’ feedback on a range of challenging dilemmas. In 2023 MosaicLab supported a new group of 50 participants to deliberate around a range of issues over a mix of online and face-to-face sessions.
The two panels, each with their own set of randomly selected panellists, met 18 times, spending 53 hours in session learning, discussing, and deliberating.
Together, they tackled a range of big issues such as planning and infrastructure, peri-regional status, climate change, community health and wellbeing, speed safety limits and food organics and waste organics (FOGO).
To date, 44 MPS staff have been involved in panel sessions.
Learnings will be built into the delivery of the 2024 panel, which is currently in the planning phase.
Learn more about the MPS Citizens’ Panel.
“(I liked) the openness of the discussion. It was non-threatening, respectful and well executed. ”
“(I liked) telling friends about discussions and getting into meaty issues. It was great having experts give their input to fill out our understanding before we progressed the subject.
”
City of kingston COLLABORATIVE ENGAGEMENT GROUP
2023 - PRESENT
The 45-member Collaborative Engagement Group (CEG) is broadly representative of the community in terms of gender, age and place of residence and comprises people from a broad range of cultural backgrounds.
Members of the group were drawn from a larger 220-member ‘pool’ of citizens who are actively engaged in other Council activities.
The panel is meeting 12 times across 2023 – 2024. The group works across two sessions per topic, dedicating three hours to learning, including conversations with council staff and speakers, and three hours to deliberating around and identifying agreed solutions on each issue.
Topics considered in 2023 included getting to know the councillors, playgrounds and active recreation and zero net initiatives such as carbon offsets. The panel will come together again for six further sessions in 2024.
and Playground Strategy.
FURTHER READING AND RESOURCES
Random, stratified recruitment, which is undertaken independently of the host organisation, results in a group of everyday citizens that are descriptively representative of the community impacted by the issue. Not sure what that all means? It’s quite technical! Explore our article Dilemma discussed: Representative views, and in another newDemocracy research and development note here: How to recruit participants for citizens’ assemblies.
Together with Lyn Carson, Research Director, the newDemocracy Foundation, MosaicLab director Kimbra White prepared a research and development note exploring a way to recruit deliberative panels more effectively. Download ‘A potential role for electoral commissions in deliberative engagement’.
There are many alternative deliberative models and we’ve explored just a few of them here in this article which debunks the myth that deliberation is always about one time, one group, one issue.
WANT TO TALK TO SOMEONE ABOUT DELIB IDEAS AND OPTIONS?
We’re here to help, and ready to chat to you about how a deliberative process could work for your community and organisation, and what form it could take.
We can help you navigate the options and find a way to more effectively tackle tricky topics and big decisions, setting you on the path to success before you start heading off on your engagement journey.
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