"Cowley Road matters" See Video!

 

Insight's 10 steps to using PV in Community Consultation. >avilable soon  

 

Cowley Road Matters: Community consultation carried out for UK Government Department of Transport. Read the Case Study!

  

 

 Community Consultation

Summary

Insight offers a face to face, qualitative, consultation process which facilitates  communication between stakeholders and decision-makers and between different stakeholder groups. By building understanding between stakeholder groups we build consensus in the community. We mobilize grassroots support for a new scheme by encouraging real participation. Innovative methods and creative media enable us to reach parts of a community that others don’t reach! Click here to see a video showing this dynamic process.

 

Involving community:

Used in conjunction with other practical tools such as 3–dimensional maps and group–work, Participatory Video makes consultation visual, entertaining and captivating. It involves meeting with groups on their terms, and on their turf.  By taking the consultation process to the community we show how much their views are valued. We have come to them; to the drop–in centre where people meet, the local cafe, the churchyard where they hang–out. People feel most comfortable in their own space.

 

Participatory Consultation:

People´s views are being recorded on video; in a sense this gives them a real, physical and tangible presence. Their emotions and feelings come through. Through playback participants rapidly develop confidence in themselves and realize the extent of the knowledge that they are able to offer. Statistics and questionnaires are two–dimensional, repetitive and can be boring. The meaning, or the feeling behind people´s views can be lost, so decision–makers lose out too. People without literary skills are intimidated and excluded, whereas video is accessible to all and can be subtitled from a participant´s first language. Decision–makers watching the edited films will meet people face–to–face and that makes it harder to ignore what they are really saying, really wanting.

 

Building trust:

Trust is a massive issue in this work. Insight will train a group of local people recruited from target groups in the community. Posters placed in drop–in centres and distributed through local community activists offer free training and support and the chance to use video and "get to know your community". A group is formed based on the skills and diverse connections to the local area brought by the members. A balance of genders is important, as is careful representation of the various ethnic minority groups in the area –bringing cultural sensitivity and language skills. The right team will reflect the diverse backgrounds of the groups we aim to reach and have people with diverse needs such as wheelchair access, or support with childcare. The team creates a web of personal links reaching out through local organizations, friends, networks, families, meeting places, or the street itself. As a group we celebrate these diverse and authentic connections to those we aim to reach, and to the community at large.