Local council e-consultation guide
19 December, 2006| By Jackie Bailey |
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Darebin City Council has received funding for a four month project to develop a guide for local councils on how to conduct e-consultation. The project will draw on Darebin's e-Forum experience and is based on the premise that e-consultation initiatives can be used alongside traditional means of consultation in policy development as well as enhance community engagement and participation in local democratic processes.
The guide will be delivered online and as a pdf and will cover practical questions council staff may have about using e-consultation tools, in particular online forums like the Darebin e-Forum (http://eforum.darebin.vic.gov.au).
Key elements of the guide will be:
- what is e-Consultation?
- benefits for local councils in using e-Consultation
- steps in setting up e-Forums
- guidelines for e-Forum moderators
- using the outcomes of Forum discussions in policy development
As the project officer responsible for developing the guide, I would be interested in any ideas that contributors might have as to key aspects of successful e-Consultation by government, in particular local government. Lessons learned, best practice examples, do's and don'ts, and experiences with different forms of e-Forum software would all be welcome and can be emailed to me at jackie.bailey@darebin.vic.gov.au by end of January please!
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