Parliamentary Storytelling: a new concept for public engagement

21st October 2020

Dr Alex Prior University of East Anglia

In this seminar, Alex presented a novel framework for storytelling (based on ‘storyteller’, ‘narrator’, ‘characters’, ‘plot’, and ‘audience’) that could serve a dual purpose: understanding the means by which parliaments connect to different publics and strengthen these efforts in future.

Measuring the impact of parliamentary engagement on law-making in Westminster Parliaments

28th July 2020

Dr Sarah Moulds Senior Lecturer in Law, University of South Australia

This Seminar aims to open a discussion about the challenges associated with measuring the impact of parliamentary engagement on the process of law-making and on the content of the law itself. 

Drawing upon Sarah’s PhD research into the role parliamentary committees play in rights protection in Australia (which has recently been published in book form Committees of Influence (Springer 2020)), this seminar aims to confront the methodological challenges associated with seeking to measure the value or impact of community engagement with parliamentary law making in Westminster-inspired Parliaments. 

It introduces a three-tiered approach measuring impact, and is designed to encourage participants to share their own experiences with a view to identifying some common features of best practice and/or pitfalls to avoid.

Implementing online deliberative methods of engagement

14th July 2020

Andreas Nitsche Co-Founder of LiquidFeedback

The success of an online participation system depends not only on the functionality of the software, but also on the overall participation process including its proper embedding into administrative processes. Andreas will introduce the online platform LiquidFeedback, which helps develop credible propositions in an integrated deliberation and voting process. He will give his take on typical challenges of civic participation, and provide examples of how lawmakers and/or an administration can address these in creative ways to establish widely accepted participation infrastructures.

Engaging with the public during Covid-19

1st July 2020

In this inaugural seminar we will hear from officials in the UK Parliament, Brazilian Senate, and Welsh Parliament, each with their own experiences of working with the public during the pandemic and from different types of parliamentary services.

Click to read a blog post written by IPEN Executive Team member Alex Prior.

Speakers

Emma McIntosh Select Committee for Petitions, UK House of Commons

Alisson Bruno Dias de Queiroz e-Cidadania Programme Coordinator, Brazilian Senate

Kevin Davies Head of Public Engagement, Welsh Parliament

Steven Williams Education and Engagement Team, UK Parliament