Rescuing Policy: The Case for Public Engagement

Feb
17
2012

When: Friday, February 17, 2012 - 08:30 – 15:30

Where: Ottawa

Policy-making is in trouble. In a simpler, slower world, a top-down approach served us well enough. However, in the fast-moving, highly interdependent world of today, it often lacks legitimacy and results in overly simplistic solutions to complex issues. The traditional policy process was designed for a different world and it is time for a change.

Public engagement is a new way of thinking about how government works together with citizens, communities and stakeholders to achieve a wide range of goals that it cannot achieve through the traditional policy process, such as population health, adjustment to climate change, building a highly skilled labour force, or national security. Goals like these require genuine collaboration.

This daylong seminar, facilitated by Dr. Don Lenihan, the Public Policy Forum's Vice President, Engagement, is based on Don's recent book Rescuing Policy. The book contains a timely and innovative re-thinking of the policy process, based on the Public Engagement Project, an 18-month, cross country dialogue that involved nine federal, provincial and municipal governments, as well as the Government of Australia and some 500 public servants.

What you will learn

The course provides a practical, learning-intensive introduction to the Public Policy Forum's approach to public engagement, based on first-hand experience and original case studies. The seminar will focus on five basic questions:

  1. What's wrong with the policy process?
  2. What is public engagement?
  3. How do public-engagement processes work?
  4. How can we evaluate them?
  5. How can we begin using them to change policy-development, communications and service delivery?

Who should attend?

Public engagement impacts all aspects of the policy process, from ideas-generation to service delivery, auditing and evaluation. The course will be of interest to officials from across government, but should be of particular interest to those involved in policy-development, communications and service delivery.

 

View the brochure and agenda.

 

Event Details

Rescuing Policy: The Case for Public Engagement
A Public Policy Forum Seminar

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
8:30 am to 3:30 pm
Public Policy Forum
130 Albert Street Suite 1405, Ottawa
Boardroom

 

Friday, February 17th, 2012
8:30 am to 3:30 pm
Public Policy Forum
130 Albert Street Suite 1405, Ottawa
Boardroom

Click here to register for the February 17th seminar.

Registration Fee: $350.00 plus HST = $395.50

 

For more information, please contact Matt LeBlanc.