February 10, 2016

The Creative Engagement and Consultation Workshop

The Creative Engagement and Consultation Workshop will be held on the 12th February 2016 at the offices of Camden Council, 5 St Pancras Square, London N1C 4AG.
The workshop will gather local government officers, design academics and colleagues from The Consultation Institute to explore how universities and Councils can work together to carry out local engagement in more creative and possibly more inclusive ways by using a participatory design approach. We will share new and innovative methods; and provide opportunities for collaboration between local government and higher education design institutions.

The workshop is aimed at local government engagement and consultation officers working in policy, strategy and public engagement, interested or active in new approaches and resources for public engagement and consultation. It is also aimed at design academics interested or active in new opportunities for collaborative learning and societal impact.

The programme includes:
· Representatives from The Consultation Institute and the London Borough of Camden sharing their insights into the legislative landscape and current practices in engagement, consultation and coproduction in policy making.
· Decision-making journeys: A hands-on diagnostic exercise to map out participants’ decision-making journeys, sharing the methods and tools used within them, and interrogating which approaches are most effective in which contexts.
· Creative engagement and consultation exchange: Presentations showcasing collaborations that are delivering the latest research in participatory design approaches to engagement and creative consultation, including Leon Cruickshank (Lancaster University) who will present the use of consultation tools in Beyond the Castle and Leapfrog projects; Theo Zamenopoulos and Katerina Alexiou (Open University) who will present an asset mapping methodology that has been applied to inform engagement, consultation and co-production of public services; and Adam Thorpe (University of the Arts London, Public Collaboration Lab) and the London Borough of Camden who will share their experiences of the Future Libraries Creative Consultation project.

· Finally, we aim to draw our insights to summarise the common challenges in public engagement and consultation, and identify opportunities for participatory design responses and opportunities for further collaboration between local government and design universities.