I have worked professionally as a facilitator and community engagement practitioner for the last decade, working with organisations to help them achieve their goals. In recent years organisations I have worked with include Barwon Water, Merri Creek Management Committee, and Association of Neighbourhood Houses and Learning Centres. I have also done a lot of pro bono facilitation for The Greens. I am particularly keen on facilitating collaborative decision making processes and community participation processes which shape public policy decisions.
Participatory Budgeting
In 2008 I worked with the Victorian Local Governance Assocation presenting a training module to Mayors from the Province of Misamis Occidental in the Philippines on community engagement. My workshop session was on participatory budgeting. Here is an outline of that session, entitled 'What is Participatory Budgeting?' and the associated powerpoint presentation. Much of this material was drawn from a study trip which I undertook in May 2008 to Brazil, in particular visiting the birthplace of Participatory Budgeting, Porto Alegre.
Collaborative Decision Making in a political environment
I presented papers on the potential of collaborative decision making in a political environment at the Australasian Facilitators Network Conferences in 2004 and 2006. The 2004 paper includes a comprehensive assessment of the pros and cons of voting versus consensus decision making; the 2006 paper outlines the challenges of trying to introduce a collaborative culture into a typically adversial political environment.
All the papers from both conferences (and information about the Network) are on the AFN website.
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