Facilitating Community Engagement

Consultation Officer (2005-2011) Local Government

• Working at Eden District Council, I have written community engagement and consultation strategies and a social media policy to help the Council develop good practice public engagement and consultation. In 2009. I organised a conference on new media for youth engagement, and introduced the Council and other organisations in Cumbria to use of video and social media in public engagement exercises. A few years ago, I collaborated with Steve Thompson, who is attached to the Digital Innovation Unit, Teesside University. Together, we set up a website called Eden Media and put together a short video so that Councillors in Eden District could listen to what some young people felt about local developments. Since then, I have encouraged young people to take on the role of social reporters, using the features on simple digital cameras to capture their own and other people’s views on things that matter locally. A number of videos have been uploaded to the Internet using the Council’s corporate YouTube account. Use of Twitter and Facebook is now in progress.

• Almost two years ago, I purchased the early version of Delib’s Opinion Suite software for use on the EDC website. After demonstrating the system and making a case for it to Cumbria County Council, the Police in Cumbria and the Cumbria PCT as well as the other local District Councils in Cumbria, funding was found to purchase a partnership version of the software for use by the Cumbria Partnership. It now operates as the Cumbria wide ‘Have Your Say Hub.’

Itech-Research, Dublin. Senior Research Consultant. (2002-2004).

• I worked collaboratively with Susan O’Donell, then of Irish partners, Itech Research, on a research project, eInclusion: Expanding the Information Society in Ireland,  for the Department of the Taoiseach (the Irish Government), to provide them with advice on the issues at public policy level that needed to be addressed to ensure an inclusive information society in Ireland. Our work led to the development of a series of recommendations to the Irish Government. The approach to the study was based on the idea that citizens from all demographic groups in diverse communities should have opportunity to participate using ICTs. Interviews were an important element of the research and the team heard from or discussed priorities for an inclusive information society with more than 60 people from Government departments and agencies, public authorities and bodies working at national, regional and local levels, also community and voluntary sector organisations, social partners and others.

International Teledemocracy Centre (ITC), Edinburgh. Research Associate. (2000-2002).

• Working as a researcher with the ITC, I was involved in organising action research and evaluations of ICT designed to support e-democracy. The remit was also to widen understanding of the societal significance of ICT and implications for democratic practice; developing higher level insights into mechanisms that need to be built into management procedures for e-democracy; researching best practice for delivery of e-government public services; presenting research findings at international conferences; writing reports and peer reviewed academic publications; and writing a variety of proposals for new funding to support human centred approaches to e-democracy research.

• While working with the ITC, I was lead researcher in an evaluation of ‘e-Petitioner,’ an innovative electronic petitioning system set up by Napier University and British Telecom in collaboration with the Scottish Parliament, to stimulate and support electronic participation, and allow ordinary people to petition the Parliament on-line. Funded by Joseph Rowntree, the deliverables of the project included a framework for the management and delivery of electronic petitioning services and an evaluation report on the uptake and use of electronic petitioning. An important part of the research was not only to outline management procedures but also to gather the views of people in local communities and assess their perceptions. The study interpreted their views and opinions about e-petitioner and noted their thoughts on new opportunities to interact electronically and in a more participatory way with the Scottish Parliament. Such information fed into on-going development and helped to improve the system. Following dissemination of the final report, the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament invited a more thorough integration of e-petitioner with their work. Thereafter, steps were taken to re-brand and merge the e-petitioning system into the Scottish Parliament’s official web-site. It is now a central ‘in-house’ tool supporting the Public Petitions Committee.

National Grid for Learning (NGfL), Scotland. Consultant (2002-2004).

• Building case studies and working collaboratively on NGfLScotland communities initiatives and training modules to build knowledge of e-democracy and civic participation.

CCNS Board of Directors (2003 – Present)

• I sit on the Board of Directors for The Centre for Community Networking and Information Policy Studies (CCNS), an independent research centre (NGO) based in St. Petersburg, in the Russian Federation. The overall mission of CCNS is to help people in countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to use ICTs to improve their lives, and to develop civil society through research, networks, and information and scientific/professional events. CCNS is also involved in studying the effects of policy decisions and international development activities in the field of ICT use.

Honorary Research Fellow (2005 – 2010)

• I was an Hon. Research Fellow with the University of Dundee. One objective was to strengthen future collaborations in research, practice, learning and writing in the area of ICT enabled community education and community development.

Ph.D Community Development in Cyberspace (2001)

• For my doctoral thesis, I studied the background, development, use and significance of a local electronic community network, set up primarily to help regenerate a deprived neighbourhood in Edinburgh, Scotland. Key aims were to critically assess the community network’s relationship with community development practice as well as perceptions of its social, cultural, political and economic significance for the community and broader society. Reviews of policy, reports and other literature helped to weave contextual, conceptual and theoretical frameworks to assist in the research and the analysis. The field research consisted of qualitative interviews with key players and observations of development and use both on and off-line. The analysis of field data highlighted many similarities and differences in the viewpoints of different people and groups in relation to network use and community development.

Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) (2004-Present)

• I am involved in Community Informatics (CI), a paradigm or way of thinking that is centrally concerned with the application of ICTs in community practice, learning and research. CI is associated with strategies and techniques for managing community use and application of ICTs to benefit local communities.  In academic terms CI draws from multi-disciplinary fields, helps connect theory and practice and is linked to community development, local economic development, adult learning, life-long education, health informatics, community service delivery and community action. CI recognises that different local communities require tailored approaches to build social and human capital and improve routine daily lives. In addition, CI supports innovative action to strengthen culture and identity, facilitate civic empowerment, and support local economic development. CI also fosters connections and stimulates partnerships between ICT practitioners, academic researchers, social entrepreneurs and other groups who have an interest in designing community based technologies to enable community action and promote community change for the better.