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

research

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FREE LUNCH & LEARN SESSIONS LAUNCH THIS SEPTEMBER

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FREE LUNCH & LEARN SESSIONS LAUNCH THIS SEPTEMBER

Elevate your engagement skills for free! We’re kicking off a new series of free lunchtime learning sessions in September. Our first lunch and learn webinar is all about conflict and outrage management and navigating the “outrage seesaw”. Facilitated by specialist MosaicLab engagement practitioners, these interactive, online, 60 minute training webinars are for anyone wanting to engage more effectively with stakeholders, communities, customers or internal audiences. Grab skills you can immediately apply to your project or role and connect with other professionals across Australia and beyond.

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SENATE HEARING - INQUIRY INTO NATIONHOOD, NATIONAL IDENTITY AND DEMOCRACY

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SENATE HEARING - INQUIRY INTO NATIONHOOD, NATIONAL IDENTITY AND DEMOCRACY

Our Managing Director, Nicole Hunter, appeared before the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy on the 13th of November. The Inquiry is concerned with exploring issues around the worldwide trend in public dissatisfaction with democratic politics, the erosion of trust in democratic institutions, and the challenges and opportunities they present.

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NEW TO DELIBERATION - HERE'S WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD

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NEW TO DELIBERATION - HERE'S WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING AROUND THE WORLD

The OECD has just released a global analysis of deliberation called Innovative Citizens Participation and New Democratic Institutions – Catching the Deliberative Wave. MosaicLab along with many other deliberative practitioners around the world contributed to this significant piece of work by providing our list of over 25 deliberations that we have facilitated in Australia. Thirteen of these deliberations were included in this OECD database.

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BUILDING INTERNAL COUNCIL ENGAGEMENT TO BEST SERVE THE COMMUNITY

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BUILDING INTERNAL COUNCIL ENGAGEMENT TO BEST SERVE THE COMMUNITY

In recent months, we delivered a series of internal engagement programs for Monash City Council, Greater Shepparton City Council and Melton City Council to help build the momentum for engagement internally. Councils have been working on Community Engagement Policies, Council Plans, Frameworks and capacity building programs and have seen the value of engaging a diverse range of staff in this work.

In this blog, some of our council colleagues and facilitators provide their learnings from the internal engagement processes.

UNDEF & NDF SET SIGHTS ON DEMOCRACY BEYOND ELECTIONS

UNDEF & NDF SET SIGHTS ON DEMOCRACY BEYOND ELECTIONS

The United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) has appointed the newDemocracy Foundation to undertake a pioneer project centred around doing democracy differently.  It’s an announcement that has us excited.  Today we’re shining a spotlight on this project, which has potential to inspire democratic change and the adaption of deliberative engagement principles across the globe.

newDemocracy’s Executive Director Iain Walker provided us with some insights into what we can expect from what is shaping up to be an innovative and impactful project.

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CRITICAL THINKING: IAP2A RESEARCH AWARD (+ FREE RESOURCES)

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CRITICAL THINKING: IAP2A RESEARCH AWARD (+ FREE RESOURCES)

We’re very pleased to announce that, together with partner Dr. Lyn Carson of Deliberative Designs, we have won the 2018 IAP2 Australasia Core Values Award for Research. We feel very honoured to have had this exciting work recognised in this way.

To celebrate, we’re providing everyone with all the digital resources and materials that have been produced to date as a result of this work. Providing these resources to others is in line with our commitment to enhancing the quality of deliberative processes, and our aim to encourage quality engagement practice everywhere.

(continue to the bottom of this post to access all the resources).

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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?

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.