Islington celebrated Local Democracy Week to give local citizens the opportunity to learn how they can be active in their community, understand the meaning of democracy and have a voice in local decision making.
Background
The council’s vision is to create a more equal Islington where everyone can thrive. Celebrating local democracy week is a step towards putting residents at the heart of everything we do as set out in our Islington Together 2030 Plan.
The project
The Member Learning & Development Steering Group and Corporate Management Team agreed the following events that would allow residents to share their experiences and vision for the borough and learn how they could be more active locally:
- An informative Becoming a councillor webpage on council’s website with videos of councillors talking about the role
- Q&A sessions with students and care-experienced young people
- An event for residents with learning disabilities to learn about the role of a councillor, the voting process and the meaning of democracy
- Panel discussion on the importance of residents’ involvement in decision making process
- Workshop on democracy and attending council committee meetings
- Fresher fair style event on democracy and local community roles
- ‘Be a Councillor’ event
Impact
- 80 residents registered for the Residents Get Involved and Be a Councillor events, 100 young people including 11 care-experienced attended the Q&A sessions and 14 residents with learning disabilities learnt how they could actively take part in democracy.
- The feedback suggested that residents felt valued having the opportunity to share ideas and recommendations.
- An effective way to share knowledge and guidance to the community, especially the under-represented and hard-to-reach groups
- The council gained insights on improving resident involvement.
Lessons learned
- To always put residents at the heart of services • Involving residents from the start will have greater impact
- Ensuring residents feel valued and are rewarded
- Work with the voluntary and community sector to hear from diverse voices. Recommendations
- Plan early and promote the events widely.
- Hold events at various times to improve attendance.
Recommendations
- Plan early and promote the events widely.
- Hold events at various times to improve attendance.
Conclusion
Local democracy week was successful in fostering local democracy and improving community involvement.