INTRODUCTION / Things to Remember
THINGS TO REMEMBER: • Start at Stage I and move through the stages. Once you are comfortable with using the toolkit, or if you have already completed some activities prior to using the toolkit, you can use the tools at different stages. • Each tool contains everything you need to put on a workshop! This includes both ‘information sheets’ and ‘worksheets’ to hand out to participants. • The Ladder of Citizen Participation Workshop is a very important part of the toolkit, since the Participation Ladder is the backbone of the toolkit. • Reflect on what tools you need to use together to help people to move up the ladder. • Be aware that not everyone will want to move up on the ladder, and this is okay! For example, some people may be happy to just be informed about an intervention. We do not need everyone to move up on the ladder, we only need to give everyone the opportunity to move up! • Remember that the level on the ladder also depends on who is involved in leading the workshop or intervention. If you have a diversity of stakeholders doing particular tasks on a project, you will enable higher levels of participation. • Both placemaking and democracy are processes! After you have finished the stages, plan to revisit all or some of the stages, to continue the process towards change.
PLACEMAKING FOR DEMOCRACY: COMMUNITY TOOLKIT
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