Is Richmond ready to go digital…?

A few things have caught my attention this week, which centre around using digital approaches to the role of Community Links, and to that of the Council generally.

I attended an interesting little ‘meet-up’ on Tuesday – a new group called #DigiWest, that aims to bring
together people from the SW London area that have interests and skills in digital technologies. Although small in number, the discussions were really interesting, and I got to explore with the others what further role digital could play for community engagement.

I was asking, because many (if not all?) Local Authorities will surely be assessing how can we strive to be more efficient, and looking at what role 'digital' play in this? We already do many things where digital is an option – e.g. our consultations are predominantly filled in on-line, residents can do many things like pay bills through the website, and we include social media in our ‘engagement’ work. These are a few examples of building digital in to the mix of what we do, but I suspect that there are more

profound changes that could be made to shake things up (digitally speaking). The change needs to be more than skin (or webpage) deep.

The background to all this, that probably originally spiked my interest, was the reference to developing the use of e-technology to involve residents, outlined in the current administration’s manifesto. NB: Apparently I am ‘the office geek’, so my interest is probably already 204.3 times greater than that of my colleagues on these matters. There was concern that this could have been a touch offensive to me, but I was rather flattered…thus proving the point I guess…

There are concerns to address. Not everyone is confident, competent or even interested in using digital platforms. So perhaps the headline should be…Richmond Council might be ready, but are residents?

Away from the office, as a regular citizen, my use of digital is pervasive. My personal communications, my file storage, how I access media, how I plan my journeys, holidays, social events, pay bills, etc etc. are all digital. I know I am ready. However, in my professional role I must retain the mix of digital and ‘analogue’, on line and off line, ‘cyber’ and ‘real world’.

An example from this very morning demonstrates this perfectly. Using several online platforms I co-promoted a volunteering event at Isleworth Promenade (St Margarets) – reaching out to local people and potential volunteers to come and help improve this stretch of the Thames riverside. The engagement (including me tweeting, Instagramming and writing about it in this blog) is all very well – but the personal interactions and ‘hands-on’ activity of the event itself, are irreplaceable by digital, on-line means of working.

We'll see what the future holds, but I think we an expect to see much more of the digital approaches (or perhaps not see, as the developments will be behind the scenes).

To sign off, I’d like to thank Colin at SWLEN, and Jason and Rebecca at The Thames Landscape Strategy for pulling together the two volunteer days. Anyone that’s interested in taking part in further activities can drop me a line (email please...no letters!).

John

How to harness the power of the Gloriana, and I don't mean the rowers..

It's been an interesting week in the Borough of Richmond Upon Thames, with regards to 'community engagement'. My role is to support, facilitate (or just plain 'make happen') local people getting involved in their area - this might range from setting up and running a pop-up youth club (not had that one yet, any offers?) through to just letting them know that there's an opportunity to have their say on whether to allow a local volunteer group to establish a small orchard in Hampton.
Many will have heard that quite a number of local residents have become very engaged around the Gloriana Boathouse proposals. To me, it's interesting how proposals which involve a building (be that school, housing or boathouse), or would visually change the landscape in some way, really motivate, incentivise and catalyse groups of people in to action.
What's less clear to me is why something else that has huge importance to people's lives, in terms of welfare or education, gets comparatively little attention. Concurrent with the Gloriana consultation there are consultations on the borough's Sexual Health Strategy, and developing Special School Provision. A consultation on setting up a Childminding Agency has just closed.
Sexual Health and conception are topics that are important to many people, for often quite diverse, even opposing reasons. Similarly, are people generally uninterested in the conversation about how we can ensure that home-based care for children is of a high quality?
It might be cynical to say, but if Richmond CCG were to propose building a new sexual health clinic on a park in the borough, I wouldn't be surprised if many more people would be putting their view forward on the matter.
I believe the challenge for the Community Engagement Team is to find ways to make these opportunities relevant to residents in the way that the construction of a boathouse on the bank of the Thames is. It is tangible, it is novel, and you can 'see' it (well, I guess you kind of have to imagine it), and it captures the imagination. Discussions about sex and sexual behaviour is not only uncomfortable for some, it may also be seen as a matter of personal choices (as opposed to a very public building development).
The Community Links Teams are thinking of ways to help people learn about and participate in these consultations, including using innovative on-line and off-line methods. For example, try our Pinterest board which we have just set up. We are also considering running a few 'drop-ins' for those who are less comfortable doing things on-line, to learn about how to use the consultation finder.
The challenge is not specific to Richmond, and we know that engagement in public matters is generally low across the country. I welcome suggestions for tackling the 'engagement' challenge we face.