7.3 Codesigning solutions with the public

At the end of Step 6, residents should have already received the report (or results letter, if the local authority is mailing the report) summarizing the results of data collection and outlining the community’s top priorities. As noted, this letter can also be used to communicate the actions the municipality intends to take in response to these priorities. 

However, if the core team decides that further consultation or dialogue with residents is necessary, then this publication or letter can be expanded to include an invitation for members of the public to participate. This could take the form of an additional survey, an invitation to attend a public hearing, a consultation or some other activity scheduled for the near future. 

When planning your solution codesign process, consider how you will foster ongoing dialogue and collaboration, keep residents informed, respond to their new feedback, and encourage inclusive and active participation. Readers may consider the concept of participatory action research helpful and can read more and explore related resources in Annex XII: Participatory Action Research. 

Methods for codesigning solutions

Codesign can occur in various ways. One approach involves revisiting Step 4 and collecting more data to prioritize potential solutions. This method was used by the municipal teams in Moldova, who repeated the door-to-door canvassing with new questions about the top priority issue. 

Focus groups

Focus groups may be helpful when determining solutions, especially if the issue is one that affects a relatively specific group of people: a language, ethnic or religious minority, youth, women, business owners and people with disabilities. Return to Step 4 and Annex VIII to review how to organize and moderate a focus group; in this instance, orient the discussion to explore solutions (and the costs, benefits and potential consequences of those solutions).

Interviews, expert presentations and study visits

Let’s imagine that the response to your survey indicated that crime, homelessness and unaffordable housing were top priorities for your community. These are complex, challenging issues, with multiple dimensions and potential ways to address them that must be sequenced. Your team and municipality may first seek to understand the issue better by bringing in an expert – perhaps an academic, housing advocate or an experienced urban planner – to discuss the dimensions of the issue in your community. These issues will not be tackled immediately, and you will likely find other communities in your region or country struggling and testing approaches and innovative solutions to these challenges. Consider sitting down for a discussion with an expert, bringing municipal officials from your city on a study visit to a neighboring city that seems to be making progress or seeking support or guidance from a consultant or civil society group focused on this issue. This will help you understand the salient parts of these issues to focus on as well as the data you need to collect on unemployment and school attendance. By achieving a baseline understanding of the issue within the local authority and identifying helpful, unknown and harmful variables in your community, you will be better positioned to approach the public and open a public dialogue on these solutions.

Open forum or public hearing

These kinds of large group discussions can be organized in various ways to solicit the audience’s feedback for the purpose of determining a solution. For example, organizers in Guanajuato, Mexico, hosted a public forum of nearly 60 residents – including members of NGOs, local universities and the private sector – and used the World Cafe methodology to collect inputs. In other contexts, a public forum may be arranged so that residents or attendees each have a predetermined amount of time to speak. Local officials and residents may not find these the most effective means of discussing solutions. First, they may not be scheduled or organized in an inviting or inclusive way (that allows everyone to attend and anyone to feel comfortable speaking). Second, community meetings often draw the same, already engaged individuals, preventing officials from hearing from new or different voices. 

Surveys

The goal of the survey shifts from prioritizing one issue to prioritizing one solution for key problems. When designing the survey, ensure an appropriate sample size, consider past surveys for insights and keep questions clear. Your survey may resemble the example provided above but should include additional background on previous results. For example:

The above survey is a rough example of a solution-oriented survey and forces residents to accept trade-offs. In Moldova, for example, mayors and local councilors aimed to address the scarcity of their resources by being honest with the public about their limited funds and asking residents if they were willing to help fund the project.

Other methods to refine solutions

There are many other ways to collect a final round of public feedback. For example, the latest drafts of plans can be posted online (such as on the government website) using software for public comments. In Guanajuato, Mexico, the city government published the final government plan online for residents to review the objectives, activities and indicators, promising to address any comments and suggestions.