Date: Wednesday 26 August
Time: 7 PM
In the face of declining trust in electoral representative democracy, can principles and insights from deliberative democracy be an antidote? With almost 20 years of experience in facilitating a range of deliberative processes in New Zealand, Simon Wright will share the basics of what it is, when to use it, its history in New Zealand, and how it can contribute to trust, problem solving and democratic reform.
Simon’s first experiences with deliberative processes were while in the secretariat for Toi te Taiao: the Bioethics Council, which was established in response to a recommendation of the Royal Commission on Genetic Modification. He has used deliberative processes at the Wellington City Council and, more recently, was on the project team for the 2025 Porirua Assembly on Climate, the first assembly process to be co-designed with tāngata whenua to honour te Tiriti. Simon also has significant experience with online approaches to engagement and deliberation, especially Pol.is, a platform designed to take participation to mass scale.
Some Background Material to Review
Watch this short 3 minute video about what deliberative engagement is -
This webinar was organized by Our Climate Declaration, and co-sponsored by:
Degrowth Aotearoa New Zealand
The Wise Response Society
Engineers for Social Responsibility
and the Nelson Tasman Climate Forum