We Can Make: Co-Creating knowledge and products with local communities

2020 ◽  
pp. 207-222
Author(s):  
Martha King ◽  
Melissa Mean ◽  
Roz Stewart-Hall
Keyword(s):  
Smart Cities ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Citizen Sensing ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
People First ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
The Individual

Knowle West Media Centre (KWMC) believes that all people, whatever their background, should be able to imagine, co-design and shape their future, for themselves and their community. KWMC uses an arts-led Co-Creation process that generates creative, engaging and relevant ways for people to get involved in activism, education, employment and local decision making, leading to and building networks, communities of interest, and strategic interventions that can contribute to wider system changes. The chapter outlines this approach, which builds on participatory research practices and the concept and practice of ‘common-ing’, and how this approach can be applied to diverse settings, issues, and engage diverse participants. It shares two case studies: The Bristol Approach to Citizen Sensing which develops an alternative people-first approach to Smart Cities, Big Data and new technology; and We Can Make, which takes an asset-based approach to citizen-led housing and enables housing to be developed at ‘point of need’ by unlocking micro-sites for development. Over twenty years KWMC’s approach has achieved significant impacts at the individual and collective level. However, there remains a challenge to secure fuller recognition and engagement from decision-makers and a commensurate shift in resources and power relations that would enable more people to work together effectively and non-hierarchically towards the change they want to bring about in their communities. 

scholarly journals How do green areas influence the temperature of cities? Web map to help local decision making about cities and the climate emergency

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Carla Garcia-Lozano ◽  
Anna Peliova ◽  
Josep Sitjar
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Efficient Manner ◽  
Web Map ◽  
Urban Greenery ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
The City ◽  
Positive Effect

Abstract. The positive effect of urban greenery on the city’s microclimate is well known, as is its ability to reduce the ambient temperature in urban areas. Our results show how the areas with the lowest surface temperature clearly coincide with the vegetated areas in the city of Barcelona. This phenomenon demonstrates the importance of increasing the urban greenery in large compact cities, such as the city of Barcelona, in order to regulate the local temperature and mitigate the effects of global warming on a large scale. The web map presented here can be used as a tool for decision makers to identify the warmest areas in the city of Barcelona and to increase greenery in an efficient manner.

scholarly journals Rural Poverty and its Consequences in Structurally Weak Rural Areas of Austria from the Mayors’ Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-231
Author(s):  
Tatjana Fischer ◽  
Karl Martin Born
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Rural Poverty ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Individual Perception ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Rural Municipalities ◽  
Objective View ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Local Decision Makers

Abstract Poverty, material deprivation and marginalization are widespread phenomena in rural areas and since the 1980s, the subject of geographical research. In this paper, we combine the (spatial-related) aspects of rural poverty and quality of life when the perception and evaluation of poverty by local decision makers (mayors) is linked to their efforts to keep the municipality vital. The specific focus on the “inner view” on poverty illustrates the complexity of the issue: It is not only the well-known difficulty to identify the extent of rural poverty and deprivation in rural municipalities as statistical data and the “hiddenness” of poor people obstruct an objective view on it but also the individual perception of decision makers. The results from 40 mayors of structurally very weak (rural) municipalities in Austria reveals limitations of political dealings with poverty and marginalization and sets the context for a reinterpretation of public services on the background of the politically much favored civic engagement.

scholarly journals Can Online Forums Be Designed to Empower Local Communities?

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-174
Author(s):  
Kerill Dunne
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
The Uk

There has been a growing concern regarding political disengagement among citizens within western representative democracies. This concern has brought about calls for local communities to be empowered by giving citizens more control over local decision making. The objective of this paper is to examine if local political online forums can be built to empower local communities. That is to say, this paper will test if the E-Democracy.org’s Local Issues Forum Guidebook recommendations (A to do list for building successful online forums) actually work and produce forums which facilitate citizens to have a greater say on local decision making and thus, induce empowerment. In order to test these recommendations a two-pronged methodological approach was taken. Firstly, using these recommendations an online forum was constructed in-conjunction with a local authority within the UK. Secondly, the recommendations were tested again except in this second approach a sample of online forums from around the world was examined. This paper argues that the E-Democracy.org’s recommendations do not always produce forums which empower local communities - Based on lessons learned from both experiments new guidelines are provided.

scholarly journals Homogeneous Groups of Actors in an AHP-Local Decision Making Context: A Bayesian Analysis

Mathematics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfredo Altuzarra ◽  
Pilar Gargallo ◽  
José María Moreno-Jiménez ◽  
Manuel Salvador
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Homogeneous Groups ◽  
Decision Tools ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Local Decision Making

The two procedures traditionally followed for group decision making with the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) are the Aggregation of Individual Judgments (AIJ) and the Aggregation of Individual Priorities (AIP). In both cases, the geometric mean is used to synthesise judgments and individual priorities into a collective position. Unfortunately, positional measures (means) are only representative if dispersion is reduced. It is therefore necessary to develop decision tools that allow: (i) the identification of groups of actors that present homogeneous and differentiated behaviours; and, (ii) the aggregation of the priorities of the near groups to reach collective positions with the greatest possible consensus. Following a Bayesian approach to AHP in a local context (a single criterion), this work proposes a methodology to solve these problems when the number of actors is not high. The method is based on Bayesian comparison and selection of model tools which identify the number and composition of the groups as well as their priorities. This information can be very useful to identify agreement paths among the decision makers that can culminate in a more representative decision-making process. The proposal is illustrated by a real-life case study.

scholarly journals Smart and Age-Friendly Communities in Poland. An Analysis of Institutional and Individual Conditions for a New Concept of Smart Development of Ageing Communities

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 2268
Author(s):  
Aldona Podgórniak-Krzykacz ◽  
Justyna Przywojska ◽  
Justyna Wiktorowicz
Keyword(s):  
Computer Literacy ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Local Policy ◽  
Local Planning ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
The Face ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Local Decision Makers

In the face of the dynamic ageing of local communities, smart cities and smart villages programs should seek to ensure meeting the needs of the elderly and promoting solutions tailored to their computer literacy, digital skills, and perception capabilities. In this context we propose to approach local smart and age-friendly communities initiatives in a way that would provide responses to two contemporary megatrends: digitalization and demographic transition. We assumed that the deployment of such initiatives in local planning and governance depends on at least two conditions: demand for smart everyday products and services represented by older adults and the perspective of the local decision-makers. The paper aims to examine whether the smart city/smart village idea focused on meeting the needs of the elderly and seeking to shape age-friendly local communities and the environment could be implemented in the municipalities in Poland. The analysis of the elderly Poles’ capabilities to absorb the ICT solutions demonstrated that the smart and age-friendly community approach may face implementation difficulties, especially in the oldest groups of the Polish rural population. Results of the quantitative study conducted in 1236 municipalities revealed that local authorities perceive local policy goals, such as pursuing smart and age-friendly development as low priority ones. A citizen-centered approach of village heads and mayors to the local policy is critical for integrating these two priorities of being smart and age-friendly.

scholarly journals Can Online Forums Be Designed to Empower Local Communities?

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-174
Author(s):  
Kerill Dunne
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
New Guidelines ◽  
The Uk

There has been a growing concern regarding political disengagement among citizens within western representative democracies. This concern has brought about calls for local communities to be empowered by giving citizens more control over local decision making. The objective of this paper is to examine if local political online forums can be built to empower local communities. That is to say, this paper will test if the E-Democracy.org’s Local Issues Forum Guidebook recommendations (A to do list for building successful online forums) actually work and produce forums which facilitate citizens to have a greater say on local decision making and thus, induce empowerment. In order to test these recommendations a two-pronged methodological approach was taken. Firstly, using these recommendations an online forum was constructed in-conjunction with a local authority within the UK. Secondly, the recommendations were tested again except in this second approach a sample of online forums from around the world was examined. This paper argues that the E-Democracy.org’s recommendations do not always produce forums which empower local communities - Based on lessons learned from both experiments new guidelines are provided.

Impact of Municipal Political Decision Maker’s Tenure on Physical Urbanisation in China: A Empirical Study based on the Profiles of Secretaries of Municipal Party Committees

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-165
Author(s):  
Chengzhi Yin ◽  
Hao Sun
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
Local Decision Makers

China’s rapid urbanisation in the past 30 years has been a prominent issue in the world. However, few studies elaborate on the rapid spatial urbanisation from the perspective of local decision makers (in particular the Secretaries of Municipal Party Committees-the SMPCs). Local governors are always seeking promotions as they are in a competitive bureaucratic hierarchy. This research is, therefore, intended to explain the local decision-making driving force of spatial urbanisation by analysing the interaction between local decision makers’ tenures and urban expansion. Based on the panel data of all 286 prefecture-level cities nationwide from 2000 to 2014, Stata 14.0 was applied to implement regression analysis. Research findings show that SMPCs have, in general, great incentives for promoting rapid urban development. Additionally, SMPCs who are transferred from other municipalities implement more rapid and larger-scale urban development than those who are locally promoted.

scholarly journals Expert Advisory Groups: Exploring the Sensemaking Proces s During a Public Health C risis R esponse

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iva Seto ◽  
David Johnstone ◽  
Jennifer Campbell-Meier
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Unexpected Event ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Creation Process ◽  
Public Health Crisis ◽  
Advisory Groups ◽  
Expert Advisory ◽  
Meaning Creation

In a public health crisis, experts (such as epidemiologists, public health officers, physicians and virologists) support key decision  makers with advice in a highly dynamic, pressured,  and time-sensitive context. Experts must process information (to provide advice) as quickly as possible, yet this must be balanced with ensuring the information is credible, reliable,  and relevant. When an unexpected event occurs, it may lead to a gap between what is  experienced and what was expected; sensemaking is a meaning creation process which is engaged to fill the gap. This research explores how experts engage in sensemaking during a  public health crisis.

The Veil of Bureaucracy: How Officials Evade Partisan Politics in Participatory Settings

2021 ◽  
pp. 232949652110288
Author(s):  
Meaghan Stiman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Partisan Politics ◽  
Community Voice ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Local Decision ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Veil ◽  
Local Decision Making ◽  
Do So

In theory, participatory democracies are thought to empower citizens in local decision-making processes. However, in practice, community voice is rarely representative, and even in cases of equal representation, citizens are often disempowered through bureaucratic processes. Drawing on the case of a firearm discharge debate from a rural county’s municipal meetings in Virginia, I extend research about how power operates in participatory settings. Partisan political ideology fueled the debate amongst constituents in expected ways, wherein citizens engaged collectivist and individualist frames to sway the county municipal board ( Celinska 2007 ). However, it was a third frame that ultimately explains the ordinance’s repeal: the bureaucratic frame, an ideological orientation to participatory processes that defers decision-making to disembodied abstract rules and procedures. This frame derives its power from its depoliticization potential, allowing bureaucrats to evade contentious political debates. Whoever is best able to wield this frame not only depoliticizes the debate to gain rationalized legitimacy but can do so in such a way to favor a partisan agenda. This study advances gun research and participatory democracy research by analyzing how the bureaucratic frame, which veils partisanship, offers an alternative political possibility for elected officials, community leaders, and citizens to adjudicate partisan debates.

Applications of Web-QFD and E-Delphi method in the higher education system

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 245-256
Author(s):  
Shun-Hsing Chen ◽  
Ching-Chow Yang
Keyword(s):  
Education System ◽  
Delphi Method ◽  
Quality Function Deployment ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Total Quality ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
The Individual

Quality function deployment (QFD) is an essential tool in implementing total quality management (TQM). This study applies a Web-QFD approach using group decision-making analysis in the Web environment to reduce the complicated data collection, aggregation and analysis processes. A Web-based questionnaire is designed by using an active service pages (ASP) involving the Internet relay chat (IRC) technique and the Delphi method with Internet (E-Delphi) to determine the importance degree of the customers' requirements. However, the traditional Delphi method is time-consuming mission. This study applies the proposed Web-QFD approach to efficiently gather the individual opinions of each team member, the requirements that are critical for customers, and then enables decision makers to accurately assess the priorities of these requirements. An empirical example of an education system in Taiwan is employed to demonstrate the practicability of the proposed Web-QFD model. This real world example involves team members communicating easily and quickly with other experts in the team through the Internet to accelerate the reaching of a consensus among multiple decision makers regardless of where their location. Customers' requirements can be rapidly prioritized based on the assessment results.

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