PhD Research
Enabling participatory and deliberative governance: Institutional design and organisational capacity for local government in Victoria, Australia.
Growing dissatisfaction with representative democracy, and related to this, the increasing expectation that government agencies relinquish control from the otherwise technocratic development of policy, has seen the emergence of more participatory forms of governance as a public management paradigm.
In line with this, reforms to the Victorian Local Government Act signal an intention to embed participatory governance practice across the sector in Victoria. The new Act requires councils to engage with their local communities in ‘deliberative engagement practices’ for long term strategic planning. This historical juncture presents a unique opportunity to research and analyse how different municipalities respond to the new legislative requirements, and what organisational capacities and authorising environments are required to support this shift in practice.
Journal Articles
Savini Emanuela and Grant Bligh (2020) Legislating deliberative engagement: Is local government in Victoria willing and able?, Australian Journal of Public Administration, 79 (4) 514-530 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8500.12420
Committees
Chair IAP2A (International Association for Public Participation) Research Working Group
Writing
Cities People Love Article: Deliberative Engagement: evolving the relationship between governments and communities – August 2020 you can read the article HERE
Speaking
2021 IAP2 Conference – Deliberative Engagement Design Workshop – with Nivek Thompson
Deliberative Engagement Pause Session with Victorian Local Government – Turn it Up Session hosted by Capire Consulting – watch the webinar HERE
IAP2 (International Association for Public Participation) Panelist for Demystifying Deliberative Engagement 28 August 2020 – watch the webinar HERE
Twosixty Talks – Community-led Civic Spaces (2020) the topic of the discussion was who influences how civic spaces are designed, what they say about their local community and how they are used? What would a community led approach to creating a new civic space look like? Watch the Talk HERE
Emerging Trends in Local Government Forum (2019) – University of Technology Sydney – gave a presentation on Managing the challenges and opportunities in implementing participatory governance practices in local government – presentation can be found HERE
Moreland Citizens Assembly – organised by NUCA and NECCHi – topic of Assembly ‘What do you want local government to do to build an inclusive , safe and fair society?’ I was asked to be an expert speaker on Civic Participation in Local Government Decision Making – you can listen to a podcast about the Citizen’s Assembly HERE