How do we improve engagement?

Government has an obligation under the universal declaration of human rights to ensure all people can participate fully and inclusively in decision making processes on matters which affect them.

What does this mean for community engagement and public participation?

It means not doing the bare minimum. It means genuinely including all people to have a say on decisions they want to have a say about, regardless of the limited time and resources available to a public authority (or an engagement practitioner acting on behalf of a public authority) to undertake public engagement.

The ‘public’ is made up of individuals who all matter. The universal declaration of human rights was created because all people matter.

If we were to treat the public as a group of individuals who all matter, each and every person, who all have the basic human right to be included, have a say and participate in government decision making processes on matters which affect them personally…

Then…

How would or should government or any public authority (or engagement practitioners who work for government) engage the public (ie. individuals who all matter) differently?

What is government doing wrong? What could it do better?