Lowest stages - Doing to
Coercing
What it means: The council requires residents to use a service or take a specific action without fully understanding or considering their true wants and needs.
Example: The council mandates that all residents sort waste into specific categories, with fines for non-compliance, without first taking input on the feasibility for different household types.
Educating
What it means: The council educates residents on the benefits and rationale of its services. There may be attempts to convince residents to act differently.
Example: The council runs a series of workshops to educate residents about the importance of energy conservation and provides tips for reducing household energy consumption.
Intermediate stages - Doing for
Informing
What it means: The council informs residents about its services and explains how they work. Sometimes the Council communicates its decisions and the reasoning behind them
Example: The council sends out a quarterly newsletter to all households, updating them on new services and explaining recent policy changes.
Consulting
What it means: The council invites residents and local organisations to participate in surveys or attend meetings to provide input on proposals or issues
Example: The council presents three options for improving cycling infrastructure in the borough and asks residents to vote on their preferred choice.
Engaging
What it means: The council provides residents and community groups regular opportunities to express their views in various ways. Residents can influence some decisions.
Example: The council hosts monthly town hall meetings where residents can voice opinions on ongoing projects and propose new initiatives.
Highest stages - Doing with
Co-designing
What it means: Residents and local organisations are involved in designing council services and initiatives. They influence decisions but aren't always involved in implementation.
Example: The council engages residents in workshops to co-design a new recycling programme, incorporating their ideas into the final scheme.
Co-producing
What it means: Residents work with the council, community organisations, and other partners from design to delivery. All or almost all decisions are shared.
Example: The council partners with resident groups to redesign local park spaces, involving them in every step from initial concept to implementation and maintenance.