Ukgc10

2010 session idea: Citizen centred participation
What do citizens want from participation and how might government help deliver it?

As others, for example David Wilcox (ref?), have noticed, whilst a lot has been written about participation, it tends not to be considered from the point of view of citizens.

In a more resource constrained future it seems to make sense to make best use of our greatest resource - us, our ingenuity and creativity. For example it's arguable that we haven't got much hope of meeting our carbon reduction targets unless we're all involved.

If the 'Open Declaration on Public Services 2.0 in the European Union' http://eups20.wordpress.com/ put down a marker for the values of transparency, participation and empowerment, is it possible to flesh out the participation bit (a big enough topic in itself) of this specifically in a UK context? In the context of participation by citizens with government, local government and institutional civic society?

Is it possible to be relentlessly citizen centred about participation? Is it possible to counter, with something more positive, each and every resort to defensiveness which can seem to put the narrow interests of government as institution ahead of a much richer potential of government as enabler of the wellbeing of us all?