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Overview of our participation methods
Overview of our participation methods

Get an overview our 7 participation methods to understand which one is best suited for your participation project

Nola Moreau avatar
Written by Nola Moreau
Updated yesterday

Engaging your community is essential for any successful project, and our platform offers a variety of participation methods designed to capture diverse perspectives and foster collaboration. From gathering public input to recruiting volunteers, these tools ensure that every voice is heard and every idea can make an impact. Here’s a detailed look at the different participation methods available on our platform.

1. Collect Input and Feedback in Public

Our platform allows you to tap into your users’ collective intelligence by inviting them to submit, discuss ideas, and provide feedback in a public forum. This method is perfect for engaging the broader community, allowing for open and transparent discussions on key issues. Additionally, you can collect input and feedback in Map view, where residents can pin their contributions on a map, enabling the collection of ideas in a geospatial context. Our ESRI add-on integration further enhances this feature by allowing you to set up maps with complex geospatial information, ensuring that the input gathered is not only insightful but also spatially relevant.

2. Conduct a Voting or Prioritization Exercise

Decision-making becomes more democratic with our voting or prioritization tools. You can select a voting method and have users prioritize between different options. Whether you’re looking to determine the most important community projects or seeking input on specific proposals, this method allows you to quantify preferences and see where the majority stands. Additionally, you can use this method to conduct a budget allocation exercise, assigning a budget to various options and asking participants to select their preferred options within the total budget. This approach is particularly useful for participatory budgeting processes, where community members have a direct say in how funds should be allocated.

3. Create a Survey

Surveys are a versatile tool for understanding your users’ needs and thinking. Our platform allows you to create comprehensive surveys with a wide range of private question types, from multiple-choice to open-ended questions. You can also embed external surveys within the platform, seamlessly integrating third-party tools to collect additional data. For quicker insights, you can create a poll—a short multi-choice questionnaire that appears directly on the project page—allowing you to gather opinions rapidly. These flexible options make it easy to collect both detailed and quick feedback, providing you with the insights needed to drive your projects forward.

4. Proposals, Petitions, or Initiatives

Empower your community to take the lead with proposals, petitions, or initiatives. This participation method allows users to upload their ideas, with the ability to set time and vote limits. It’s a powerful way to crowdsource solutions, build consensus, and drive action on issues that matter most to your community. By setting clear parameters, you can manage the flow of ideas and ensure that the most supported initiatives are brought to the forefront.

5. Share Information

Keeping your community informed is just as important as gathering their input. Our platform enables you to share information, visualize results from other phases, and create data-rich reports. You can also create a report to communicate the results of the consultation in a highly appealing and accessible way. This report is visible on the phase description, ensuring that residents can easily see how their contributions have influenced the project. Transparent communication fosters trust and encourages ongoing participation, making it easier to maintain engagement throughout the project’s lifecycle.

6. Recruit Participants or Volunteers

Mobilize your community by recruiting participants or volunteers for specific activities and causes. Whether you’re organizing a panel or seeking volunteers for a community event, our platform makes it easy to connect with individuals who are eager to contribute. By facilitating volunteer recruitment, you can build a stronger, more active community that is directly involved in bringing projects to life.

7. Collect Feedback on a Document

Our platform’s integration with tools like Konveio allows you to collect feedback on documents in an interactive way. Users can embed and interact with PDFs, providing comments and feedback directly on the document. This method is particularly useful for collaborative document review processes, such as planning proposals or policy drafts. By enabling real-time feedback, you can ensure that documents are thoroughly reviewed and refined based on community input.

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