Who is funding this?
This project is funded by Innovate UK as part of a broader programme called Net Zero Living. Innovate UK are funding over 50 local authorities across the UK to develop innovative, place-based responses to climate change.
Who is running the citizen visioning?
Forest of Dean District Council and Coleford Town Council are running this project. The councils are working with two independent organisations who will deliver the citizen visioning - Involve and The Sortition Foundation.
Involve is the UK’s leading public participation charity. It works to build a vibrant democracy, with people at the heart of decision making. It will lead the delivery of the Citizen Visioning, ensuring it is independent and well run.
Amongst other projects, Involve has run many other local and national public participation projects.
The Sortition Foundation is a not-for-profit company that promotes the use of randomly selected groups of people in decision-making. It is responsible for recruiting citizen visioning participants to accurately reflect the wider community.
How are people being recruited to take part?
We’re using a process called civic lottery (or 'sortition'). This is often referred to as the gold standard for recruiting people to be broadly reflective of a local population.
We will send an invitation to every address in the Coleford Town Council area using the Royal Mail database.
The letters will invite residents to register their interest, asking them to give some information about their demographics and attitudes. From there, a group of people will be selected by computer to broadly reflect the population of Coleford.
Why are you recruiting people this way?
We’re using civic lottery because we want every household in the town to have an equal chance of taking part. This recruitment process is great for hearing from people who have been less involved in conversations about the future of Coleford and climate to date.
I’d like to take part. Can I sign up?
As long as you live within the Coleford Town Council boundary you can register your interest to take part. Register at www.sortition.uk/coleford or by phone on Freephone 0800 009 6486 (8am-8pm every day).
Why not more than 22 people?
This process is based on a well-established method of a citizen’s jury. The idea is enabling a small group of diverse people to get into detail on the issue by meeting over five sessions to make considered recommendations. This will result in recommendations that have been deliberated and agreed by a group that reflects the local population.
So rather than a consultation, which might get hundreds of responses and result in a long ‘shopping list’ of ideas, this is about quality and depth.
The group will meet for over 18 hours and learn about the topic, deliberate solutions and make decisions together. In this way, the final recommendations come from a group who broadly reflect the town.
Will this change anything the council does?
The visions and actions will help inform emerging District Council strategies and plans, such as those related to the climate emergency, well-being, active travel and equity, diversity and inclusion.
Forest of Dean District Council and Coleford Town Council have committed to making a formal response to the recommendations, explaining how they will be taken forward. If they can’t be taken forward, the reasons why will be explained and alternatives will be set out.
What is Citizen Visioning and why are you doing it?
Achieving a net zero future - where we balance the greenhouse gases we produce with those we remove - depends on all of us. It requires some big changes and those changes can help us realise other benefits too - like creating a fairer and happier community. But no single person knows how to do that alone, and the changes need to vary by place.
Citizen Visioning is about changing the way decisions are made. Rather than being told what should happen, local people are invited to shape a shared vision for the future of their community.
It starts by asking: What do we value? What makes our place special? What do we want it to be like in 10, 20, or 30 years time?
When citizens help build this bigger picture, it creates a strong foundation for change. Projects and policies can then be guided by that vision - making sure they reflect local priorities and have local support.
It’s not just about solving one problem at a time; it’s about working together on a future that works for everyone and can guide decision making as we face a variety of challenges and opportunities.
When and where is the Coleford Climate Citizen Visioning happening?
The selected participants will meet five times on the following dates:
- Wednesday 18th June 6.30 - 8.45pm
- Wednesday 25th June 6.30 - 8.45pm
- Saturday 28th June 9.30am - 4.30pm
- Wednesday 2nd July 6.30 - 8.45pm
- Saturday 5th July 9.30am - 4.30pm
This will happen in a location in Coleford. We will update this page when the venue is booked. It will be fully accessible.
Are citizen visioning participants being paid for their time?
Participants will receive £315 in total to, in a small way, recognise the time they have given up to take part. This payment is essential to ensure the Citizen Visioning is accessible, and attractive to, a wide range of people.
It makes it possible to select people to take part who together reflect the population of Coleford in terms of areas such as age, gender, ethnicity, housing tenure, and the extent to which they are worried about climate change (or not).
How else will you ensure that the event is accessible?
If you need translation or help with childcare, or other caring duties, we will do our best to provide it.
We can also support accessibility in a range of ways, which can include but is not limited to: physical access, visual, hearing, reading, writing, or other sensory support, or any considerations that may arise from the nature of the event.
If you are selected to take part, Involve will contact you to discuss any needs you may have and ensure you are able to fully participate.
The meetings will be held at an accessible venue with disabled parking available.
Lunch will be provided with all diets catered for, and transport expenses will be covered. Everyone will have access to a prayer room or quiet space during the day.
The information provided during the event will be as jargon-free as possible. There will be opportunities to ask speakers to explain what they mean if what they are saying is not clear.
Why is this taking place in Coleford and not any other towns?
Coleford was chosen as a location for this work after the District Council invited the four towns in the district to apply by completing an Expression of Interest. This asked about their motivations for taking part, how it aligned with other work they are doing, as well as what issues are impacting their town that link to the co-benefits of climate action.
How are young people able to contribute?
Young people are at the heart of climate citizen visioning processes. The Forest of Dean District Council are working with FVAF and Involve to deliver targeted workshops and outreach events with young people.
These are focused on what young people value about Coleford now and what they would like to see in a future where Coleford has responded to the challenges of climate change. The young people who are taking part in the full workshops will receive a voucher as a gift of thanks in recognition of their time. This is an important part of recognising the vital role of the people in Citizen Visioning.
Young people's engagement will feed into the Citizen Visioning process. This includes a gallery display of young people's ideas that will be drawn on in the visioning. We are also inviting several young people from the young people's workshops to attend a visioning session and speak to the wider Citizen Visioning group at the second meeting.