Hearing Older Voices demo

From E-Consultation Guide

How can older people make their voices heard in the future? Government and voluntary agencies, politicians and campaigning groups are now using new technologies to communicate with people. There are telephone call centres, mobile 'phone text messages, interactive TV and, of course, the Internet.

In the Hearing Older Voices project, we have been asking older people how they made their voices heard before and after devolution. How did they get government agencies or political representatives to take note of what they wanted? Now we want to find out from you which of the newer communication technologies might actually be useful in getting your voices heard.

This demonstrations session will be in 3 parts.

Contents 1 What do you want them to hear? 2 Take a look at some of the communication technologies 2.1 Identifying issues 2.2 Reporting problems 2.3 Exploring problems and designing solutions 3 3. Discuss how you might use the technologies

What do you want them to hear?

Think of something you might want to tell people in government in the future. You might want to:

• find some information from a government agency;
• sort out a problem, perhaps making a complaint or asking someone to help;
• take part in a public consultation; or
• campaign on something important to you.

Write down the details on the paper supplied, and keep that in mind during the rest of the session.

Take a look at some of the communication technologies

Just below are links to examples of electronic communication technologies that are being used by government agencies and voluntary organisations in Northern Ireland and elsewhere.

• Click on some of the link to take a look.
• Explore the site until you have some idea of how you might use it in the future (or until you have decided you won't ever use it).
  • Ask for help if you do not understand something.
• Make a note of your opinion of the technology.

The sites are grouped by different tasks:

Identifying issues

How can people share their experiences of government services, or identify issues that they want someone to deal with? There are places where people talk about issues, share experiences and views to this end.

• Collecting stories:
  • Patient Opinion, for stories of health service treatment.
  • Active Citizenship. The Wheel asked Irish citizens to tell it what they thought it was to be an active citizen.
  • Upload videos to the No. 10 YouTube channel.
• Discussion forums:
  • Brighton and Hove Issues Forum, discussing local issues in Brighton, one of many Issues Forums around the world.
  • Dublin.ie discussion forums (supported by, but not run by Dublin City Council)
• e-petitions
  • National: UK Prime Minister
  • Regional: Scottish Parliament
  • Local: Bristol City Council

Reporting problems

You don't need to start a big campaign for every issue. Some can be dealt with by reporting to the right person. The problem often is finding the right person to send your complaints and compliments.

• An e-mail address or online comment form.
  • Belfast City complaints form or e-mail
• A telephone call centre.
  • Dial 101 for NI Direct's new non-emergency telephone number for government services in NI.
• A site to help you find and write to councillors, MLAs, MPs and MEPs.
  • Write to them (UK-wide, run by My Society.
  • Where Is My Public Servant (NI-based, designed for young people).
• A map on which you can report problems.
  • Fix My Street (this site only works with postcodes in Great Britain, try one you write to, or something like ME12 2SS).

Exploring problems and designing solutions

OK, you have identified something bigger, that cannot be handled by a simple 'phone call or complaint. How and where can you join others to discuss something and come up with solutions?

• Consultations
  • Government-run
    • NI Dept. for Social Development current consultations.
    • Bristol consultation finder, part of http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/council-and-democracy/consultations/ Bristol City Council and democracy].
    • Broadcasting Bill e-consultation by the Irish Parliament.
  • NGO-run
    • Advice NI's e-consutations.
    • Community Walk lets you set up maps on which you can comment. Here we see how it was used to collect comments about probation office locations.

• Campaigning
  • C4NI tells you about how to influence government (without using new technologies).
  • Set up a group on Facebook. (We can demonstrate it to those who don't have an account.)
  • Send out updates on a campaign via Twitter or follow the NI Assembly.
  • Set up a Flickr group to share photos of something.
  • Upload videos to YouTube
  • Find some groups near you, or from Community NI

• Use electronic communication tools in your groups to help in:
  • Getting reactions immediately.
  • Mapping ideas
  • Writing documents together, as in Wikipedia or GRASS.
  • Measuring needs and preferences through online questionnaires. Try our demonstration survey.

• Finding out information from the government.
  • They Work for You lets you read what your representatives have said.
  • NINIS neighbourhood statistics.
  • NI Planning explorer.

3. Discuss how you might use the technologies

After you have looked at a number of communication technologies, join with your neighbours in discussing how you might use them to make your voices heard on the issues you noted in step 1.

Here are some questions you might discuss.

1. Which technologies would be most useful to you, and why?
2. How easy to use are the technologies? Which:
   • are easy to use right now,
   • could be used with some training,
   • need to be improved before you can use them,
   • are impossible to use?
3. How might you use some of these technologies in the future to make your voices heard?
4. What would need to be done before you could use them in this way?
5. Which of the traditional ways of making your voice heard would you continue to use, and why?