Wise Democracy Victoria

A new report highlighting our experiences facilitating three Citizen Insight Councils here in Victoria BC is now available online.   Click here for the 2 meg PDF file. 

In 2010 the City of Victoria undertook an update of its Official Community Plan.  The City partnered with Wise Democracy Victoria to convene and facilitate a series of three Citizen Insight Councils (based on Jim Rough's model of Creative Insight Councils).  In undertaking the CICs the City of Victoria demonstrated a willingness to engage with citizens at a high level of public participation, by engaging randomly selecting citizens for in-depth conversations. 

“This is an exciting initiative,” said Mayor Dean Fortin. “Whether you’re 18 or 85, people have important ideas and insights about our city. The Citizen Insight Councils allow people to come together in a casual setting, hear each other’s ideas and work towards a common goal. The direction set by these groups will benefit the entire community and directly shape Victoria’s future.”

Using a city property database, five-hundred addresses were randomly selected, with letters of invitation sent to the residents.  Follow-up phone calls were made to approximately eighty people on the list.  This process presented any citizen of Victoria 18 years or older with a chance to be selected to participate, providing a unique opportunity for involvement by a wide cross-section of community members.  Simon Nattrass with WDV was the key organizer for all three CICs, working closely with City staff.

Altogether, twenty-one individuals accepted the invitation and took part in two CICs, held on May 28-29 and June 5, 2010.   In May 2011, a third CIC was convened by the city, with invitations sent to the original twenty-one individuals to help review the draft OCP.  Seven individuals attended and were unanimous in their complements to the city on the success of the draft in addressing their input.