The art of e-democracy

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Debates about waste and recycling were modest successes for Ask Bristol, the city’s online forum. But ask Bristolians about modern art and suddenly everyone’s got an opinion. The debate over preserving graffiti artist Banksy’s work in the city has given Ask Bristol its biggest boost to date, says Carol Hayward, corporate consultation manager

World-renowned street artist Banksy may be an unlikely aid in enhancing democracy in Bristol but so far has proved the most successful way of encouraging local people to give their views within the council’s Ask Bristol online forums.

Ask Bristol was established by Bristol City Council’s consultation team in January 2005 as a pilot for the Local eDemocracy National Project with the aim of e-enabling and reinvigorating the traditional citizens’ panel model. In establishing Ask Bristol, the focus was on providing an online public space where people could gather to discuss the issues of the day, meet like-minded people and generate ideas for action while developing a sense of community.

Membership is open to all who have an interest in the city and more than 1,600 people have registered since the site went live to discuss a range of issues including whether local street artist Banksy’s work should be preserved as part of the city’s cultural heritage.

Banksy has an uneasy relationship with the council – which has been criticised for intentionally, and unintentionally, painting over some of his earlier, but much loved works. So when the council decided to ask the public’s opinion on whether or not a new piece by Banksy should be preserved as art or removed as graffiti, it was an unusual and brave move to make.

Councillor Gary Hopkins, executive member for sustainable environment and neighbourhoods at that time, explains: “Banksy’s unique style and flair prompted the council to put the dilemma of whether to consider it as graffiti out for public discussion.”

Before the Banksy debate, the most popular topics had been discussions to help shape the city centre development strategy and forums on waste and recycling that could help influence the proposed new collection schemes. These forums had attracted 50-60 participants and encouraged a modest increase of around 50 new members to the forum each month.

Banksy, on the other hand, attracted 200 contributors and 400 new members. Of those who responded to the consultation, 97 per cent asked to keep the Banksy work and the council has agreed to do so as long as the tenants within the building also agree.

In general, feedback from council officers using the website to gain views and from participants has been positive.

One Ask Bristol member comments: “I was sceptical about Ask Bristol, but the subject questions have been intelligent and they haven’t followed a council view point – so well done to the team. Equally, the council appears to have listened with regard to extending the opening hours of the recycling centres. Apart from the odd ‘flame’, debate has been interesting.”

But how does this new way of gaining views and carrying out consultation fit in to the traditional approaches usually favoured by councils? Evaluation carried out shortly after Ask Bristol went live identified that 44 per cent of registered users had never filled in a paper survey or attended a public meeting. Demographically it is fairly representative, proving particularly attractive to people who are aged between 25-50 who can fit it in around their busy lives.

The council is keen to stress that Ask Bristol is not replacing traditional methods but is run alongside those approaches to broaden their appeal and provide an alternative approach that can often be quicker and cheaper to run.

Bristol City Council is now in the process of incorporating video into Ask Bristol, following a successful pilot funded by the Ministry of Justice. Based on the principles of Youtube or Google Video, it allows a two-way communication process where the council can introduce the issues it wants to consult on via video, then encourage public responses through video as well as text and audio. One of the aims is to humanise the process, bringing it up to date with contemporary methods of communication.

Ask Bristol has made a good start in helping us to understand the issues that are really important to local people. Having an ongoing relationship with registered members helps us to keep them involved and informed as well as helping the council to make better decisions overall. We expect Ask Bristol to play in increasingly important role in Bristol’s consultation and engagement activities.

For further information contact Carol Hayward on (0117) 922 2848, email consultation@bristol.gov.uk