Forum:Will Gordon Brown be remembered for fiddling with community involvement while the planet burns?

The announcement about participatory budgeting   was a very good start. But communities need to be involved also in discussions about values and the kinds of futures we want. Futures which take account of climate change and very different pictures of where we'll be getting our energy from. Discussion about all aspects of more sustainable communities.

The challenge for government is to find a way to take the 'we-think' phenomenon seriously. The challenge for the rest of us is to persuade government, at all levels, to stop toying with those of us who would be involved.

Throwing public money at the latest fashion accessory of a scheme or program, has got to be replaced by a more open, inclusive, transparent and long term approach. More government with the people than government over the people.


 * Open means letting the public in at the design stage of any program or initiative, including the 'how will we judge success' bit.


 * Inclusive of course means going beyond the government's favoured few.


 * Transparent means enabling the wisdom of crowds to counteract control freakery from wherever it might come


 * Long term means continuous dialogue.

Of course there may be a lot more to it than this, but getting these 4 things would show substance supplanting spin. Philralph 16:01, 12 August 2007 (UTC)