Keeping Torfaen green with Dialogue
The challenge
Torfaen County Borough Council is a county in south Wales, characterised by lush greenery, rivers and picturesque towns. They serve about 90,000 residents.
They use their Citizen Space site to run consultations and engagement, but they recognise that not all types of engagement are suited to the consultation format, which tends to be 'top-down' - that is, the organisation controls the flow of information.
The approach
Dialogue is a platform that provides a much more open format. Built for facilitating constructive conversations, it asks for thoughts and ideas on a topic rather than asking set questions. Respondents can interact with each other by viewing, rating and commenting on others' ideas.
Dialogue is a moderated platform, with two options: pre- and post-moderation. It's also easily configurable, which was ideal for Torfaen as it meant their challenges could be presented in two languages - English and Welsh.
The results
Torfaen is an attractive area and it's clear that both council and residents want to preserve the area's natural beauty. Torfaen council have run two challenges to that effect: a Torfaen Climate Change Challenge and a Torfaen Litter Challenge.
Each challenge had a good response, with users clearly impassioned about the issues. From suggestions like installing solar panels on all schools to making businesses more accountable for litter and waste, ideas and comments were thoughtful and considered, which gave Torfaen plenty of material to work with.
Delib is a govtech leader specialising in consultation and engagement, trusted by over 600 government organisations worldwide, including major planning projects. Since 2004, we've been building secure, accessible digital platforms to make participation simpler, fairer, and more inclusive. Our flagship product, Citizen Space, was built in collaboration with the UK government and has supported more than 11 million responses across over 110,000 democratic activities.