Simon Burall, Director of Involve explains on the Open Democracy website Our Kingdom that although the new government proposal to allow the public to determine how development aid is spent has come under heavy criticism, if implemented correctly, MyAid could harness the knowledge of citizens and help build support for rising aid budgets. Read the full [article here|http://www.opendemocracy....

Presented to you by The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and Involve

• Date: 22nd September 2010
• Time: 09.30am - 12.30pm
• Venue: Online Seminar

Armchair Involvement is an NHS Institute online platform where you can build your skills and review best practice in the field of online health engagement and technology....

Recent work from the Campaign to Protect Rural England highlights that the public needs a greater role in planning decisions to ensure that their environmental and developmental interests in relation to society are met. The main argument is that, for Government to reform the planning system while ensuring environmental protection their focus must be on the assets of the landscape, and the aspirations of members of the public who are impacted by it and who use the space....

The Scottish Youth Parliament has recently launched its biggest ever youth consultation 'Picture the Change' and would like to ask for your support during August and September to help reach as many young people as possible by promoting 'Picture the Change'.
The main purpose of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) is to represent young peoples' views and communicate them to decision-makers. They are therefore eager to find out what young people in Scotland think of the world around them,...

Urban Forum and bassac have released an interesting new piece of guidance called Local Action: A handy guide for communities working with councillors, looking at how community groups can practically and effectively work with local councillors on projects. Download the report here. This work compliments Involve's Councillor in the Community tool,...

Involve's Director Simon Burall commented on the government's current crowdsourcing consultation processes in the Guardian online last week. His response highlighted the need for government dialogue with the public to be a two-way conversation that will meaningfully impact on policy. Read more here.

Duty Free Democracy...It seems that the recent Duty to Inform, Consult, and Involve will soon be an ex-duty. Edward Andersson from Involve explains why this is probably the right thing to do: here.

Several well respected US academics working in the dialogue field have this month published a paper that asks How Much Disagreement is Good for Democratic Deliberation?

Full story here

Online participation in the Big Society - Are we forgetting the 'digital underclass'?

Clay Shirky argues in his new book 'Cognitive Surplus' that interactive media and online social networking is creating a more collaborative, democratic world. At a recent lecture at the London School of Economics, Shirky noted how 'civic' sites such as PatientsLikeMe can create real social change and empower people in every community,...

In his address for the BBC's Reith Lectures, the President of the Royal Society, Lord Martin Rees, calls on scientists to engage more widely with government, the media and ordinary people.

Read more here