Meet MosaicLab
Nicole Hunter
FUNNY, UNUSUAL, MYSTERIOUS: MOMENTS FROM 2024

As 2024 wraps up, our facilitation team is sharing their standout moments. From mysteriously missing catering and questionable gong skills to a surprise bush trek under the stars, 2024 had its fair share of laughs, twists, and unforgettable memories.

FUNNY, UNUSUAL, MYSTERIOUS: MOMENTS FROM 2024
Case studies
Nicole Hunter
CASE STUDY: CITY OF MELBOURNE AFFORDABLE ...

The City of Melbourne views affordable housing as crucial infrastructure for maintaining a liveable, inclusive, and prosperous city. With a projected shortfall of 23,200 affordable homes by 2036, immediate action is needed to address this long-standing issue. While there is broad community support for affordable housing, acceptance often wanes at the neighbourhood level. To tackle this, a People’s Panel of 39 diverse community members was established to represent local perspectives.

CASE STUDY: CITY OF MELBOURNE AFFORDABLE HOUSING PANEL
Meet MosaicLab
Nicole Hunter
TEAM SPOTLIGHT: POLO, POLLY & GUS

A support facilitator studying psychology, our first team member based in NSW and a brand new participant recruitment coordinator... meet the newest additions to the MosaicLab team: Polo, Polly and Gus! Learn more about this trio of terrific team members and gain some insights into who they REALLY are through their answers to our fast five questions!

TEAM SPOTLIGHT: POLO, POLLY & GUS
Case studies
Nicole Hunter
CASE STUDY: THE TALE OF TWO ENERGY SECTOR ...

How should we plan for the new energy future while providing affordable services that meet changing customer and community needs? Two representative ‘Voice of the Customer’ panels in Queensland answered this question. Randomly selected, everyday customers deliberated and agreed on recommendations that electricity distributors Ergon Energy Network and Energex used to prepare Regulatory Proposals for the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).  Delve into a tale of two deliberative customer panels, and gain ideas and insights you can draw on for your next project.

CASE STUDY: THE TALE OF TWO ENERGY SECTOR CUSTOMER PANELS
Meet MosaicLab, ML Giving
Nicole Hunter
SUPPORTING CONVERSATIONS WHERE THEY'RE NEEDED ...

We believe in supporting emerging and underserved people and communities to have deeper conversations that lead to stronger democracies. ML Giving is the new name of the not-for-profit part of MosaicLab - a banner for the work we do that gives back. We’re focussing on furthering community inclusion and action beyond just getting input and instead moving into enabling local decision-making. Explore the principles ML Giving will operate under, and the kind of projects and conversations we’re supporting.

SUPPORTING CONVERSATIONS WHERE THEY'RE NEEDED MOST

complex information

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#MONTHLYMYTH: FACILITATORS NEED TO BE CONTENT EXPERTS

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#MONTHLYMYTH: FACILITATORS NEED TO BE CONTENT EXPERTS

Facilitators work across many industries, audiences and topics, and sometimes the issues or information being considered are complex or technical.  We’re often asked how we manage to move across so many broad ranging issues and projects, and whether we need to become ‘experts’ in each topic before we facilitate.

This #MonthlyMyth explores some of the misunderstandings that sit behind this myth, highlights the true role of a facilitator, and uncovers how facilitators really work with information and content.

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#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

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#MonthlyMyth: Glossy, simple content = informed participants

When you’re preparing information inputs for a community engagement process, organisations can spend a lot of time producing glossy brochures and simplified, summarised content.  It’s easy to get lost in all the posters and paragraphs and lose sight of what’s important - what you’re really saying about the issue or decision at hand.

Getting the balance right can be challenging.  So, in this post we’ll not only address this months myth, we’ll also give you 6 simple tips for providing the right information at the right level of detail.

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Enhancing participants' critical thinking capacity - study outcomes

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Enhancing participants' critical thinking capacity - study outcomes

A Research and Development Note detailing the process and outcomes of a recent study we worked on with Lyn Carson of Active Democracy and the newDemocracy Foundation has been published. 

The study considers the question - How can we enhance the ability of randomly-selected citizens in mini-publics (such as citizens’’ juries) to understand and evaluate expert evidence?

#MONTHLYMYTH: DISTRUST IS DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

#MONTHLYMYTH: DISTRUST IS DUE TO A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING

Our May #MonthlyMyth focuses on an assumption that is often made about the community by managers, project leads and technical 'experts'.  

Statements like "if only they understood X, Y or Z, they would see we were right!" are an indication of a potentially risky, yet common assumption that community opposition or distrust is based on ignorance or incapacity. 

CRITICAL THINKING STUDY INSIGHTS PART 2: THE FACILITATOR

CRITICAL THINKING STUDY INSIGHTS PART 2: THE FACILITATOR

Recently, we posted an interview with Lyn Carson of Active Democracy and the newDemocracy Foundation, who is working in partnership with MosaicLab to research what happens when critical thinking skills, techniques and concepts are introduced to participants in a deliberative process. 

Today, in Part 2,  we're talking with MosaicLab co-founder Nicole Hunter, an experienced facilitator with extensive experience in deliberative engagement.  Nicole, alongside MosaicLab's other two co-founders Keith Greaves and Kimbra White, has been working to integrate critical theories into real, on-ground processes.  

CRITICAL THINKING STUDY INSIGHTS PART 1: THE RESEARCHER

CRITICAL THINKING STUDY INSIGHTS PART 1: THE RESEARCHER

If you happened to come across our previous post ‘A new venture into critical thinking’, you will know that MosaicLab is currently working on a fascinating research project with Lyn Carson of Active Democracy and the newDemocracy Foundation.   

A final report is now in development, and, excitingly, early indications suggest that introducing critical thinking concepts to participants during deliberative processes  can result in a number of  benefits. 

From increased trust (between both participants themselves and between participants and decision makers) to increased ability for participants to question and understand information (including complex or technical data), the work is highlighting how these skills can enhance and transform both processes and participants.