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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
Thanks to the pandemic, MosaicLab facilitators have had over 12 months of running online meetings and workshops, clocking over 300 online sessions! As a result, we now know what works well in this medium and what it takes for people to have meaningful conversations and contributions online. We shares our knowledge of the online meeting world with you through our Virtual Facilitation training course.
Find out more here.
MosaicLab is excited to be offering two new training courses - Virtual Facilitation and Technical Skills (for anyone that is currently hosting, or learning to host, online meetings and workshops) and Deliberative Engagement for Victorian Councils (for council staff, executives and councillors who have a role in relation to the deliberative engagement requirements of the new Local Government Act).
Find out more here.
Join us in for a day of FREE training, learning, networking and sharing in Melbourne on 12 December.
We’re hosting a jam-packed two-part event: Deliberation 101 Training for Government , followed by an Engaging Evening of conversation with with Dr. Brett Hennig (the Sortition Foundation UK) and Louisa Curry (Local Government Victoria).
The event will explore an engagement dilemma facing the public sector - how to engage effectively against a backdrop of new expectations and requirements, including legislative reform. It’s an opportunity to learn from international and Australian experiences, and consider how your organisation could engage better in a changing world.
Registrations are now open and places are very limited, so be sure to secure your spot ASAP.
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.
A new Local Government Act is on the way in Victoria, with submissions on the the Exposure Draft of the Local Government Bill to close this Friday. The draft signals some changes to expectations around community engagement - a shift that is set to impact how councils engage in a number of ways.
In this post, we're summarising the key changes proposed in relation to engagement and highlighting what this might mean for councils and how they engage in the future.
Considering or about to embark on a deliberative engagement process? It's time to get ready.
MosaicLab's new training experience for managers, leaders and decision makers has been designed to help you, your organisation and your community/stakeholders to get the most out of your upcoming journey into the world of deliberation.
Learn how to overcome the challenges, avoid the pitfalls and embrace the opportunities of a deliberative processes at this exclusive, one day event to be held in the Melbourne CBD on the 28th June.
Advisory committees – we love them and we hate them – and we can’t stop setting them up. They're possibly the number one method of engagement in Australia.
When used effectively, these groups (also called stakeholder/community reference groups and a whole host of other titles) can provide an opportunity to gather local knowledge and input, test ideas and proposals and improve communication and relationships. However, when used improperly, run poorly, or put in place as a substitute for a comprehensive engagement process, they can create more risk than reward.
This post will help you to overcome some of the biggest challenges associated with advisory committees, and ensure that both organisation and group benefits from the experience.
