For Residents

Citizen Panel Moderator's Overview Session Four, March 21, 2009

Citizen Panel Members

During Session four of the six session Citizen Panel, panelists worked together to find their common ground.
Common ground is when:
- People work through differences and come to understand each other and each other’s values.
- Used when working together to address a shared problem involving fundamental
  values.
- Used to unite diverse positions into a common direction, even if members don’t agree on specifics.

Panelists were given a presentation of the potential areas of Common Ground they could explore. The potential areas were culled from notes taken during small group dialogue during the previous three sessions.

At the end of the day, panelists indicated:

The preliminary view of common ground presented in the morning was generally supported. Panel members played with nuances and wording and suggested combining some of the initial statements, but there was nothing in the presentation with which they disagreed. Panelists indicated this first cut was a good start, though they found the comments perhaps a bit too general and high-level - they would like to see a bit more detail/specific direction.
New areas of emerging common ground included:
- Accountability:
  - we are all responsible for what our community becomes, so how can we contribute ("What can I do for my city?")
  - should be an ongoing, shared, mutual responsibility between citizens and government (not a one-time dialogue)
  - transparency is important
- Livability
  - cleanliness (water, air, the city itself)
  - programs (such as arts and culture)
  - safety
  - housing (affordability; for homeless)
  - feeling of 'community'
- Long-Term sustainability:
  - economic (via diversification and long-term planning)
  - environmental
- Holistic, integrated, multifaceted planning (near and long-term):
  - not piecemeal
  - inspired by an exciting/engaging vision
  - interconnected solutions (across departments, regions, time frames, communities)
  - not just for transit, but include every other element of municipal planning (urban design; land use; density; green spaces; etc.)
  - maybe we need to design a cultural shift (include incentives and disincentives; perhaps a public campaign; education and awareness)
  - proactive, and potentially influenced by learnings from other cities who are a bit further ahead
- We value universality of benefit, even if not universality of use
- We value choice
- We value participatory democracy

Overall, Session #4 was a constructive day for the Citizen Panel. Panelists are feeling increasingly more comfortable with the process and with one another, the conversations of the day were broader, deeper and more enthusiastic.

Discussions began with an initial test of common ground to date, primarily constructed from the three prioritization approaches identified in the Issues Book.
Through a relatively open and unstructured process, the panel engaged in thoughtful and creative discussions and identified new possibilities for directional priorities for the City (beyond the initial approaches in the Issues Book).
The day involved "more agreement than disagreement", and a reaffirmation of the many good things about Edmonton.
Panel members commented that despite the fact people were all eager to speak and share personal thoughts, the group continued to demonstrate a respectful approach to listening to the perspectives of others.
The importance of citizen involvement and shared accountability in our democratic process was an important theme through the day ... "We are all responsible for what our community becomes".
Long term sustainability, both economic and environmental was emphasized.
The livability of our City was also discussed, with particular focus on cleanliness, safety, transit, housing, arts and culture, and 'community'. In this context, it was acknowledged that people "valued universality of benefit, even if there may not be universality of use".
As the day progressed, the panel became increasingly interested in the development of an integrated, holistic, multi-faceted approach for looking at City planning - for near-term budgeting, as well as longer-term visioning.
Panel members expressed an understanding that "this is not an all-or-none task", and upcoming discussions about trade-offs were going to be challenging.
The group is really looking forward to Session #5 and the development of more detailed preliminary recommendations for City Council consideration.