2022 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

The events of the last two years have been stark reminders of the extreme inequalities that exist in society. Increased awareness of the impacts of racism through protests led by Black Lives Matter and the devastating and disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 and has brought inequalities between different people and communities into sharp focus. Waltham Forest is no different. There are many in Waltham Forest, a very culturally diverse borough with 68% of residents from minority ethnic backgrounds, who face persistent and often insurmountable inequalities that affects the capacity to make a decent living.

In June 2021, we produced the State of the Borough report, a comprehensive evidence base of the impacts of inequality on the lives of the 277,000 residents in Waltham Forest. But quantitative data alone does not begin to tell the full story of the daily inequalities residents face.

The community conversations engaged over 550 residents through 400 hours of engagement. We used a multi-method approach to understand the lived experience of residents from marginalised groups trying to make a living in the borough. Over 90 separate challenges were identified by residents through workshops hosted by voluntary groups, who we supported with capacity building and financial support to encourage them to conduct their own workshops on other topics. Ethnographic research was also used for the first time.

The Summit brought was the culmination of a year long programme of participation to reduce inequalities, bringing together the evidence from the State of the Borough and the lived experience shared by residents in the community conversations. 32 participants from across Waltham Forest came together in-person over three summit days to decide how Waltham Forest should work to help residents who experience inequalities to make a living. 

Summit members were able to have constructive and informed debate to explore the issues together, to consider the trade-offs and hear other perspectives. Results of the summit, along with the feedback from participants, demonstrate how deeply they approach issues and how important it is for the Council to give opportunities of this nature to the community.

Through time spent learning, discussing, and deliberating together, summit members agreed on a set of 15 recommendations in total. Summit sessions were delivered in three phases:

• Learn – understanding context, challenges, and other areas of innovation 
• Deliberate – discussing potential solutions 
• Decide – agreeing practical action and recommendations

As a process, the Waltham Forest EDI Making a Living Summit was the first of its kind in the UK. The range of recommendations show that, when given the opportunity to deliberate with a broader group of people, with access to insight and information for discussion together in safe conditions, people from community groups and organisations can find solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges and produce detailed recommendations about a way forward.

We will continue to engage with summit participants as ‘active citizens’, contributing to positive change and future decision making as the recommendations are implemented.

https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/council-and-elections/about-us/our-equality-diversity-and-inclusion-strategy (External link)