As a policy maker or decision maker, taking your first steps into participation and deliberation can be daunting. This new realm can offer many opportunities but also challenges. But you’re not on your own — here are some of the key things to consider as you start on your journey.
There are many benefits to doing public engagement in decision making, as a policy maker or decision maker. Some of the key benefits to you include:
- Getting better decisions that work better first time round — this can avoid the financial cost of policy failure and prevent backlash
- Increasing trust in you as a policy makers or decision makers, and your institution or organisation
- Giving you power to try new things, push the boundary of what is possible and offering legitimacy for solutions — people can get behind solutions as other people like them have played a role in creating the solutions