Dr Mark Elliott is Director and founder of Collabforge. As chief consultant for Collabforge, Mark has successfully designed and managed a range of high profile projects working closely with clients in a highly versatile and collaborative capacity.

1. Crea%ng a Truly
Collabora%ve Planning Pla2orm
Future Melbourne’s Collabora%ve Plan Wri%ng Ini%a%ve
Dr Mark Ellio8, Director, Collabforge
American Planning Associa/on, Webinar
18th September 2009

2. www.FutureMelbourne.com.au
[Future Melbourne home]
A collabora%ve planning pla2orm, using technology similar to Wikipedia, was
developed to enable council officers to collabora%vely draJ the city’s 10 year
strategic plan. Addi%onally, during a four week period, anyone in the world was
able to register to edit the content of the plan 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

3. How did this eventuate? David Mayes, Manager of Strategic
Planning and Sustainability, City of
Melbourne
mandate for a collabora%ve city plan
inspired by Wikipedia as collabora%ve process
Collabforge mapped the council’s exis%ng planning process
re‐engineered the process for a collabora%ve outcome

4. This led to...
a shiJ away from exclusive focus on
tradi%onal public consulta%on such
as...

5. ...town hall meetings, the review of print documents
and submitting commentary via letters and emails.
Text
Text

6. With tradi%onal consulta%on, the contribu%ons that can be
made are in a fixed format, ve8ed, and must...
Stay within the box.
Ap
pr
ov
ed

7. But what if you're
the type of person
who values ac%on
over analysis?

8. Perhaps it's simply a case
that exis%ng processes and
tools just aren't cut out to
cope with such complexity.

9. What do we typically mean by
‘collaboration’?
Typically we mean....
‘working together towards a shared objective’

10. Collaboration is really:
When a group of people add/edit/delete the
same pool of content

11. 3Cs ‐ Framework for Collec%ve Ac%vity
Coordina6on ‐ enables synergies as a result of proximity
Coopera6on ‐ enables gains as a result of aggrega%ng
individualis%c contribu%ons
Collabora6on ‐ enables innova%on as a result of co‐crea%on

12. 3Cs ‐ Framework for Collec%ve Ac%vity
Collective
Process Output
Activity
Disparate elements Patterns across
Coordination pulled into a relational disparate elements
space emerge
Examples
• how a search engine uses keywords to
bring together webpages and resources on
the Internet,
• how fish swim in schools and birds fly in
flocks,
• how communities are synchronized
through language, culture, norms, etc.

13. 3Cs ‐ Framework for Collec%ve Ac%vity
Collective
Process Output
Activity
Disparate elements Patterns across
Coordination pulled into a relational disparate elements
space emerge
Individuals comply to Aggregated value of
Cooperation process / set of individual
instructions contributions
Examples
• a company & profit,
• a survey & results,
• voting & elected politician,
• participation in the planning process &
captured community opinion.

14. 3Cs ‐ Framework for Collec%ve Ac%vity
Collective
Process Output
Activity
Disparate elements Patterns across
Coordination pulled into a relational disparate elements
space emerge
Individuals comply to Aggregated value of
Cooperation process / set of individual
instructions contributions
Participants of a group Co-created innovation
Collaboration add/edit/delete same representing a shared
pool of content understanding

15. 3Cs ‐ Framework for Collec%ve Ac%vity
Collective
Process Output
Activity
Participants of a group Co-created innovation
Collaboration add/edit/delete same representing a shared
pool of content understanding
Examples
• Coauthoring a written work or song.
• Performing an improvised group work
(e.g. jazz, blues, folk, etc),
• Developing ideas through discussion
(with our without documentation).

16. www.FutureMelbourne.com.au

17. engagement
resourcing
buy‐in
accessibility
user‐led innova%on
collabora%on on a global scale

18. In fact, we saw registered users from as... Nepal,
New Zealand, India and Indonesia ‐ and a great
many other countries as well.

19. challenges
common fears

20. You mean anyone can edit my work?!

21. Who guarantees quality? community modera%on
Future Melbourne Team
City of Melbourne
Stakeholders
Public

22. Dear sir/madame,
i am sorry to find a spelling mistake in the third
last paragraph, second line. the second word is
mis‐spelled as 'knoweldge'. please check.
thank you for your a8en%on.
with faith from, john tam, chinese in hong kong.

23. EDIT

24. In very rare cases...
arbitra%on
may be needed for cases of disagreement
expert input can be a valuable tool

25. So... the host organiza%on is in charge...

26. Though, ideally as a sort of ...benevolent dictator.
26

27. But this s%ll requires...............
risk analysis
risk management strategies
daily, mul%level monitoring of every single edit

28. Some were worried that it might be a case of Council leaving the
front door open and coming back to clean up aJer the party.
But.. it wasn’t

29. not a single instance of...
spam
off‐topic
offensive contribu%on

30. there are risks.....
but the benefits far outweigh them....
understand what they are
be upfront about them
addressed them through appropriate
policies and monitoring

31. Of local registrants, the majority came from the central
city area, however the project drew many from wider
surroundings.

32. We saw 40.3% female and 59.7% male par%cipants.
However interes%ngly, this ra%o is reversed when looking
at numbers of page editors versus page viewers.

33. There was a broad range of age groups ‐ the majority of
par%cipants being mid twen%es to mid for%es.

34. Page views per day were consistently high, roughly 2,500,
with around 30,000 in total, and 7,000 unique visits to the
site over the course of the month long consulta%on.

35. Several hundred edits were made to
the plan by members of the public...

36. Future Melbourne covered on 40+ interna%onal
blogs & websites...
“Could this be the beginning of par%cipatory governance?”
“Kudos City of Melbourne! A8en%on Melburnians: be sure
to have your say and take advantage of this excellent site so
what you think and feel the city should be like in the future is
accounted for in policy development“
“It's not hard to imagine why Melbourne has a reputa%on as a
vibrant and progressive city”
“I'd love to see the Mayor of my city on the front page of a wiki
asking for contribu%ons!”

37. Interes%ngly, since consulta%on wrapped up in mid June last year,
we con%nue to have new registra%ons on the wiki at a fairly
consistent rate.
And, interest con%nues offline as well. We're con%nuously receiving
interest in the project from all over the world.

38. Contribu%ons from the public spanned the spectrum from simple
spelling and grammar correc%ons...

39. To extensive and well‐considered
contribu%ons.

40. This one sharing knowledge on how the city of Helsinki
successfully dealt with bicycle lanes.

41. Certain people are naturally drawn towards certain tasks
and types of engagement..

42. With these sort of outcomes, we now realize it’s cri%cal to re‐
evaluate what it means to engage the community, and what
we can expect to receive in return.

43. While some organiza%ons are just beginning to dip
their toes in the water...
organiza%on
online public

44. Others are already realizing the unique benefits of enabling direct
par%cipa%on in the planning process.
organiza%on
online public

45. Core Learning ‐ Strategic Engagement
Build it.. and they won’t necessarily come.
Strategic design is impera%ve ‐ specifically,
addressing & communica%ng mo%va%ons &
incen%ves for par%cipa%on.
Any associated marke%ng campaign must
have an online component.

46. Core Learning ‐ Strategic Engagement, cont.
Web communi%es for par%cipatory planning & policy
development require %me & energy to cul%vate.
Purpose‐built Web communi%es are an investment
into your organiza%on's human resources &
your community’s digital literacy.
Therefore, these communi%es are a resource that
should be protected as an investment across and
between engagement ini%a%ves,
‐ avoid star%ng from scratch each %me.

47. Reduce ‐ the need to start from scratch
Reuse ‐ the input for other ini%a%ves
Recycle ‐ community members for other projects

48. www.wePlan.parks.vic.gov.au
A public engagement pla2orm Collabforge developed for
the re‐working of a major na%onal park management plan
for the Australian State of Victoria.

49. As a na%onal park
management plan is
fundamentally based
upon how people use a
park, media sharing helps
inform this understanding
and provides an easy and
engaging way to
par%cipate‐

50. The ability to create explicit connec%ons with friends, acquaintances
or colleagues to enhance community cohesion and transparency of
process... results in a more genuine level of engagement from the
public.

51. The wiki component enables the public to help Parks Victoria draJ the
management plan prior to the legislated public par%cipa%on window ‐ that
is, during the actual internal draJing period.

52. Emerging Trend: Mass Collabora%on
New Collabora%ve Tools &
Social Processes
100s ‐ 1,000s DraJing a Document Together
(extending collabora%ve capacity)
Planners can
widely collaborate
& draw upon a
global solu%on &
problem domain

53. New Collabora%ve Tools &
Social Processes
Par%cipatory Democracy
(extending representa%ve democracy)
Ci%zen
Innova%on
in
Government

54. This type of innova%on can happen anywhere
All that is needed:
Awareness of the opportunity & interest on
part of a project sponsor,
Experienced prac%%oners ‐ either internally or
externally sourced, who can navigate virtual
community dynamics carefully & strategically, and
Commitment, enthusiasm & crea%vity on part of
everyone involved.

55. Where is this all going?
How will it get there?
Who will get it there?

56. Self evident:
The Web (in some form or another)
is here to stay,
‐ be it seman%c, mobile, ubiquitous...
Web development is geung faster,
cheaper, easier & more replicable,
‐ this puts power in people’s hands.

57. If government at all levels does not
step up to the plate, & lead in this space
then...
...leadership will come from elsewhere

58. What does this ‘elsewhere’ look like to you?

59. See www.Collabforge.com to learn more about
the collabora%ve planning pla2orm, or our
other services & a copy of this presenta%on.
Mark.Ellio8@Collabforge.com
Twi8er: @MarkEllio8
Phone: +61 421 978 501
Dr Mark Ellio8, Director, Collabforge
American Planning Associa/on, Webinar
18th September 2009