This case study is part of a series supporting the toolkit for communicators on citizen participation. Read the full toolkit for communicators supporting citizen participation. The toolkit was created by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Innovative, Digital and Open Governance (INDIGO) Division in collaboration with UK Government Communications.
Process
Camden Council aimed to create a truly welcoming, safe and inclusive environment for everyone who spends time in the borough during the evening and night-time hours. As part of a broader engagement strategy, the council brought together 47 randomly selected individuals who live, work or run businesses in the borough to take part in Camden’s Citizens’ Assembly on the Evening and Night-Time Economy.
The Citizens’ Assembly took place from February to March 2023. The role of participants was to contribute to the development of Camden’s first strategy focused on evening and night-time activities.
Role of communications
The Citizens’ Assembly was preceded by an extensive period of community engagement, conducted between October 2022 and January 2023. During this phase, Camden Council undertook outreach to better understand the perspectives and priorities of the wider population, with the goal of shaping the scope and content of the upcoming deliberations.
As part of this process, communications staff identified key stakeholder groups for targeted engagement, ensuring that a broad cross-section of the community could be heard. In parallel, the Council employed social listening tools to analyse public sentiment and discourse on local digital platforms.
The findings from these activities were used to inform the specific themes and issues that would later be explored by the Citizens’ Assembly.
Outcome
Participants collaboratively developed a vision, a set of guiding principles, recommendations, calls to action and measures to ensure success. The principles and calls to action were used to shape Camden’s Strategy for the Evening and Night-Time. The draft strategy was further developed through a continuous engagement process which included key stakeholders in Camden, including participants from the Assembly who expressed interest in remaining involved after it ended.