Strategies for Citizen Engagement (ii) – Tools and Techniques - Informing Digital Futures: Strategies for Citizen Engagement - page 169

Lack of experience or negative experiences will discourage engagement.
Some of the most relevant factors to consider are:

• starting from the point where people are (Klein 1976). The capacity to

listen and to develop understanding of the world that participants oc-
cupy is crucial;

capacity for engagement - do stakeholders have the knowledge needed
to participate (e.g. to critique planning models), the resources needed to
participate (e.g. time, internet access), and the skills needed to partici-
pate (e.g. public speaking)?;

•

• access to necessary infrastructure necessary to support participation

(e.g. child care networks, transport and disability access)?;

• preferences for engagement - have community members expressed par-

ticular preferences regarding engagement (e.g. to be involved in infor-
mation sharing, consultation or active participation)?;

• previous experience(s) with engagement - has any previous engagement

been particularly positive or negative?;

• are there factors that could prevent trust and connectedness being

achieved between stakeholders and designers?;

• what motivation and incentives are there for engagement?

9.3.4 Motivation for Citizens to Engage

With regard to the issue of motivation, one of the paradoxes of new tech-
nology is that it “ connects the connected more than the peripheral ” (Norris
2001). In the same way, and for some of the same reasons, efforts to involve
and engage citizens face the danger of including those who are already will-
ing and able to engage rather than those who are uncertain and lack experi-
ence of engagement. This can mean that those with a vested interest will
be motivated to engage - potentially driving the agenda and exerting undue
influence.
There are some important lessons to learn regarding motivation to en-
gage from cases where unprompted or spontaneous engagement of citizens
has arisen. This generally occurs in response to a particular issue they re-
gard as significant in their lives or that of their community. The drivers for
this can usually be readily identified. Typically the motivation to take ac-
tion will be prompted either by a high level of dissatisfaction with the
status quo (e.g. poor housing conditions, the high cost of fuel for transport,
a failing local school, crime or anti-social behaviour in the neighbourhood)
or by fear of a proposed change and perceptions of likely negative impact
(e.g. erection of a telephone mast, creation of a holding centre for asylum