Have your say in a world-first way

This time three years ago, Wollongong was riven by the offshore wind wars, a debate so toxic it poisoned everything from social media forums to friendships. Now new technology by an Australian company could offer a positive way of canvassing opinion about change.

Wollongong City Council has partnered with Canva in a pilot program, with residents invited to share goals for their community, country and the world via a Wollongong Goals website, 21 purpose-built postboxes and this weekend's pop-up booth at Belmore Basin.

So could this tool help us tackle difficult subjects, be it wind farms, off-leash beaches or skate parks?

“I hope so,” Lord Mayor Tania Brown said at Belmore Basin today.

“Because I think with the wind farms, you saw how toxic that got so quickly with misinformation, and here we're just saying to our community: 'What do you want?' Without fear or favour or promises of funding, what is your vision? And I think that's a great open-ended question to ask, particularly when you lift it to Australia and the world. You know, putting us in that global context takes out that 'this is a specific issue I'm angry about'. So I think it's a great new way to engage with our community.”

Canva’s Global Goals platform has been a decade in the making and the partnership with Wollongong City Council is a world first.

“The ambition is really, really big,” said Zach Kitschke, Canva’s chief marketing and communications officer. 

“You might be wondering what's it got to do with the design platform – I think Canva is known for the service that we offer, but actually a much bigger part of the mission for the company and the personal mission of the founders is what we call our two-step plan. Step one: building one of the most successful companies, and step two, the more important part, doing the most good that we can with that platform and those resources.”

Pilot coincides with inquiry findings

Canva's civic engagement initiative launched in July, about the same time as an inquiry into 'Impact of Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) on rural and regional communities and industries in NSW’ delivered its final report. 

Illawarra local Mark Banasiak, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers' Member of the Legislative Council (MLC), chaired the inquiry's committee, reporting that: "Key among the committee's findings was that the government has presided over the roll-out of REZ without a coherent, enforceable, whole-of-government planning framework resulting in predictable and avoidable harm to rural and regional communities.” 

The Illawarra Flame asked if he saw potential in Canva’s technology to improve community consultation.

“From my perspective as chair of the committee in the REZs, the evidence we collected doesn't suggest that lack of access to technology inhibited consultation, rather that the government didn't undertake the consultation in good faith, decisions were pre-determined and consultation in all its forms was just a tick-a-box exercise,” Mark said.  

Wollongong Goals is being widely promoted via advertising online, social media posts and colourful postboxes, where residents can drop postcards in popular locations such as North Beach and Wollongong Botanic Garden.

However, when contacted this week, the MLC had not heard of the pilot. Nor had Alex O’Brien, president of Responsible Future Illawarra, an association formed out of multiple Facebook groups opposing offshore wind. “The technology itself is interesting, but whether it actually improves consultation comes down to whether people are genuinely heard and whether their feedback influences decisions,” Alex said. “It probably also needs a bit more awareness. If this is the first many people are hearing about it, it’s hard to know whether it’s reaching a broad cross-section of the community.”

'A great initiative'

Associate Professor Michelle Voyer, a marine social scientist at the University of Wollongong, thinks Wollongong Goals is "a great initiative".

“One of the challenges with the way community consultation is often conducted is that it tends to be reactive,” she said. 

“Governments or industry put forward proposals, and communities are then asked to respond. Very often this response is one of shock, anger or concern. Participatory processes like this one – which harnesses the benefits of digital technologies to capture community views and aspirations at an earlier stage – can help governments and industry proactively pursue opportunities that align with community priorities."

Last year Michelle co-authored the Australian Marine Conservation Society's roadmap to improving decision-making about offshore wind. "I’m really looking forward to seeing how this initiative develops and, ultimately, how its findings are implemented,” she said.

Peace and unity top goals

Already the Canva trial has switched the focus from what people don't want to what they do. Peace and unity are ranking highly, with early submissions also showing strong support for “kindness and inclusion, which is lovely”, the Lord Mayor said.

"Even today, I've been talking to people about disabled access and making it easier for people with disabilities. So, one of the things I really want to see out of this is hearing those diverse voices, making sure that we're hearing from disabled sector, women, the queer community, the multicultural community, and I think this is already delivering that.”

Louis Parnis, president of the George Cross Falcons Community Centre in Cringila, was among those who submitted a goal at the pop-up booth at Belmore Basin today. Last year, Louis founded a regatta in Wollongong Harbour with traditional Maltese wooden clappers cheering on the racing. It'll be back on September 20, helping to fulfil Louis' first goal: "I wrote that we should start utilising the water more," he said. "I said we should start harmony in Australia before we worry about overseas."

Choose what you share

Addressing concerns about personal information and how it’s managed, council's general manager, Greg Doyle, recommended reading Canva's “very clear, easy to understand privacy policy” and said “significant governance” has been involved in preparing for the trial. “You don't have to provide your personal information; it's a choice thing,” he said. "I think most of the city is actually well educated on how this works. We've been really excited about the number of people that have identified either their name or their suburb.”

The GM has an ambitious target for the pilot: he’d like to see 15,000 goals submitted by the September 11 cut-off.

“We've already had thousands of goals submitted on the platform,” Canva’s Zach Kitschke said. “We should have over 6000 by the end of the weekend. It's really amazing seeing what happens when you just ask that simple question through the power of imagination.”

Canva launched its Global Goals Platform in July and is running two pilots: one with the Ad Council in the US and one in Wollongong. 

“But this is just the starting point,” Zach said. “We’re really hoping that you know we learn a lot, and Wollongong can really be a leading light for what's possible for other cities around the world.”

To submit a Wollongong Goal, fill out the online form, pop a postcard into one of the letterboxes across the city, or record your message in the pop-up booth next to Levendi cafe at Belmore Basin from August 7-9.