1.
INFORMATION, CONSULTATION AND
COLLABORATION AND THEIR
DIFFERENT PROMISES FOR
PARTICIPATION
Hille Hinsberg, Praxis Centre for Policy Studies

2.
Nine principles of good engagement
(by Involve, UK)
1. Makes a difference
2. Is transparent
3. Has integrity
4. Is tailored to circumstances
5. Involves the right number & types of people
6. Treats participants with respect
7. Gives priority to participants’ discussions
8. Is reviewed & evaluated to improve good practice
9. Participants are kept informed
LegitimacyDesignFollowon
TransparencyParticipationAccountability

3.
When is participation used
Political vision
Policy formation
Decision making
Implementation
Evaluation

4.
Aims of participation
Source: http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/scienceandsociety/site/all/files/2010/10/PE-conversational-tool-Final-251010.pdf
Transmit Collaborate Receive
To inspire, inform,
change, educate, build
capacity and
involvement or influence
decisions of stakeholders
or the public
To collaborate, consider,
create or decide
something together with
stakeholders or the
public
To use the views, skills,
experience, knowledge
of stakeholders or the
public to inspire, inform,
change, educate or build
your own capacity or
decisions
SPECTRUM

5.
Challenges for participation
• Open governance as motivation to enhance
participation practices
• Raising awareness on the benefits of
consultation among civil servants and state
officials
• Building trust in the aims and process of
participation among citizens and CSOs
• Promoting standards for consultation on local
level

6.
Outcomes of successful engagement
• Increased legitimacy of decisions and decision-making process; and trust in
policy, organization and its key persons;
• Better information about planned activities in society and in target groups;
• Increased knowledge and expertise and alternative policy options;
• Getting feedback about existing policies and about partners’ expectations;
• Balancing different (including opposing) interests in decision-making
process;
• Identifying policy impacts and practical implementation problems;
• Improving policy coherence;
• Preparing for policy implementation;
• Avoiding mistakes.
MORE TRUST AND SATISFACTION

7.
Engagement is NOT ...
– a substitute for representative democracy
– a chance to avoid responsibility
– a way how to postpone unpleasant decisions
– a magic key for solving all problems and making
everybody happy
– a piece of cake

8.
When engagement does not work?
• When the decision has already been made or then there is
only one solution. Why: creates illusion for engagement
• When skills and opportunities for engagement are missing.
Why: empty hope
• When there is no respect towards the participants and no
interest for their opinion. Why: superficiality and lose of trust
Everyone does not need to be engaged always everywhere.
More is always not better!
The more strategic is the decision, the bigger is a need for
participation opportunities.

9.
Designing participation
Outcome
(What)
Process /
Structure
(How)
People
(Who)
Context
(Where)
Purpose
(Why)

10.
Aims of policy:
what do we need to do?
• To present the draft legal act on urban planning and construction (this is a
commitment in the Government Coalition Programme).
• To formulate government position in nature protection conditions, to
prepare for meeting of all EU ministers
• To collect ideas for preparing a new service for applying for fishing rights
• To hold discussions on the potential for lowering the minimum age for
voting at elections,
• To ensure that all local municipalities will implement the new law for
collecting statistics
• To analyse the current practice in child protection and make proposals to
the minister to amend the policy.
• To ensure that data protection guidelines are known and followed by all
public sector institutions
• To collect different views in the society to decide if regulation for adopting
foster children should be made easier …

11.
Why to engage?
Some examples of engagement objectives
• Collect information about current situations, problems, needs and
expectations
• Get ideas how to improve the situations
• Inform the stakeholders about your plans and build support for your plans
• Get feedback about your recent activities or plans
• Find out the preferences of the participants and opinions about the
different options
• Make decisions together with the participants
• Achieve better acceptance and implementation of the decision
• Build long-term cooperation and mutual trust

12.
What toolbox do we need?
• Work plan
• Communication channels
• Participation methods
• External expertise
• Political/managerial support
• Stakeholder goodwill and information

13.
What rules must be respected?
A: Consultation documents are clear, concise, and
include all necessary information;
B: All relevant parties have an opportunity to
express their opinion;
C: Adequate awareness-raising publicity is ensured
and communication channels are adapted to meet
the needs of all target audiences;
D: Participants are given sufficient time for
responses;
E: Acknowledgement and adequate feedback is
provided.

14.
Group assignment: design the participation
process for OGP action plan
1) Focus on the target group: whom you need
to involve?
2) What is the main objective of engagement?
3) What are the expectations for participants?
4) What is the most suitable level of
engagement: Information, consultation,
collaboration? Plan methods accordingly
5) What are the risks and barriers during the
process?

15.
Methods for engaging discussions
• What needs to be achieved?
– Getting messages across
– Generate new ideas
– Get feedback on proposed alternatives
– Make a compromise, alleviate conflicting interests
– Achieve a decision
• How many participants?
• How many staff we have, how much time and how
much money we need?
• Context: what has been made before this meeting?