Please contact Mel Harris Mel.Harris@wychavon.gov.uk or Matt Berry mattberry@cannockchasedc.gov.uk for more information.
Please contact either Michael Robson Michael.Robson@northoftyne-ca.gov.uk or Shauna Healey shaunahealey@merseyfire.gov.uk
For more information, please contact Fiona Rae (frae@lambeth.gov.uk) or Maria Burton (mburton@westminster.gov.uk)
Please contact the Chair of the group, James McLaughlin, if you are an MO/DMO who would like to join the group by emailing James_McLaughlin@sandwell.gov.uk
Democratic Services have a vital role to play in terms of making sure councils make robust and democratically sound decisions. However, this role as one of the guardians of the democratic process can’t be at the expense of supporting local government to move forward and adapt to its ever challenging and changing context.
The webinar, delivered by the Chief Executive at Adur and Worthing Councils, Dr Catherine Howe, will explore how democratic decision making and design can be harnessed as part of organisational change and the opportunity Democratic Services teams have to support and be part of wider change in Local Government.
The potential impacts of opportunities of new technologies as well as some of the trends in citizen participation will be discussed as well as exploring how Democratic Services could reshape themselves and their skills to be part of that wider conversation and support change inside and outside of an organisation. It will also touch on some examples of the integration of democratic and deliberative approaches as well as looking at ways to kick start democratic innovation.
The webinar is particularly suitable for Senior Democratic Service Officers and Monitoring Officers as well as participation practitioners who want to understand more about how their work can integrate with democratic processes.
The webinar is sponsored by MVI Audio Visual (www.mvi-audiovisual.com), who provide standard software for automatic camera control, name displaying and voting automation in council chambers. Their products are widely used around Europe, including the UK.
Their remote participation product EasyConf Connect is designed for councils to live stream the council meeting, even in hybrid scenarios. It combines remote participants and in-room participants in a unique way. All meeting metadata, like attendance, speech times and voting results, is stored as PDF and can be integrated into the councils document management system.
Please note that you will need to be able to login in to GoTo webinar in order to access the webinar. If you are logging in from your workplace, you will need to ensure that GoTo has not been blocked by your organisation. Otherwise, you can log on from your mobile.
Please contact Georgia Latham (Georgia.latham@stockport.gov.uk)or Rachel Gibbons (RachelGibbons@wigan.gov.uk) for more information