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welcome
Welcome and thank you so much for participating in the Newham Standing Citizens' Assembly!
Introduction
Newham’s residents have decided that ‘greening the borough’ is the issue they want England’s first permanent Citizens’ Assembly to discuss this summer.
You have been invited and selected to join this Assembly to discuss and recommend ways the Council should help make Newham a better, happier and healthier place to live. The theme itself reflects the importance of parks and green space to residents, particularly following the challenges to mental and physical health since March 2020. This first Citizens’ Assembly will therefore examine how we can make the borough’s green spaces more attractive and enjoyable for people.
Your Big Questions are;
How can we work together to make our parks and green spaces even better for residents and visitors?
How do we ensure that everyone has access to quality green quality spaces?
This Assembly is an important way of talking together, finding common views, and sharing ideas about to what is best for Newham. Together, you will listen and talk with range of speakers, have discussions with each other on things such as; What do you think is important? What are the challenges and opportunities? Who could be involved?
Your recommendations will create your Citizens' Assembly Report which will go to Newham Council in September.
This Assembly is the first in a number that will form a new 'Standing Assembly for Newham'. You have been invited to take part in this first one at this point in time. We are keen to hear your thoughts and ideas about how events like this can work in the longer term and there may be an opportunity for you to get involved in other ones.
What is a citizens assembly?
Residents are brought together to consider what should be done on an issue. They hear evidence from a range of people about the topic. They get to discuss evidence they hear and have plenty of time to think. Facilitators help participants explore the evidence. Over time, the group arrives at a series of recommendations. The recommendations will be considered and responded to by the Council.
Why is it so important to Newham?
Giving people the chance to have their say forms part of a radical overhaul of democracy in the borough, designed to involve residents in decisions and build trust in the Council and make it a happier and healthier place to live. The Mayor set up a Democracy Commission to radically improve local democracy in Newham and there are a number of recommendations, including setting up citizens assemblies and community assemblies.
The Citizens’ Assembly is a chance to debate a key issue that most affects our lives, discuss and work together to find solutions to the issues, connect with other Newham people and share knowledge, hear from great speakers, present recommendations to the Council for consideration.
A permanent citizens assembly means that Newham has committed to run citizens assemblies every year, with a minimum of two a year.
We also run community assemblies where people can set priorities, establish community projects for your neighbourhood, influence decision making, and have a greater say in how local funding is spent. There are other programmes you can get involved in influencing your local area and you can find those online at https://newhamco-create.co.uk/en/
How did Newham choose the issue of greening the borough?
In a historic opportunity to help shape the borough, we put out to the vote to residents which issues they wanted our next two citizens assemblies on, out of a shortlist of themes via the Council’s website.
Thirty one per cent chose ‘greening the borough’, closely followed with 30 per cent selecting ‘the 15 minute neighbourhood’, which will be debated at the second Citizens’ Assembly in the autumn.
The theme itself reflects the importance of parks and green space to residents, particularly following the challenges to mental and physical health since March 2020. This first Citizens’ Assembly will therefore examine how we can make the borough’s green spaces more attractive and enjoyable for people. The speakers that will follow will talk more about the importance of this topic to Newham.
Has Newham organised citizens assemblies before?
We ran a Citizens Assembly on Climate Change in February last year and this led to our Climate Emergency Action Plan which sets out a number of commitments we made in response to the recommendations, around sustainable transport, improving air quality, reducing waste and recycling, greening council fleet and building a green economy. Our recent annual report shows the progress we are already making as a result.
What will happen next after the assembly?
The Mayor and her Cabinet will consider all the recommendations made, and give a formal public response to each one. As each recommendation will require time to review and understand what the Council can do, the public response by Cabinet will be provided by March 2022.
What are the roles of the agencies helping Newham run the citizens assembly?
The Democratic Society (Demsoc)
The Democratic Society is working with us to design the Citizens’ Assembly and will be instrumental in delivering these sessions. They are a non-partisan and independent organisation dedicated to building new democratic infrastructure that lets people involve themselves in the decisions that shape their lives.
The Sortition Foundation
The Sortition Foundation has been working with us to recruit local participants to participate in the assembly, ensuring that these participants reflect the diverse range of communities and groups in the borough. The Sortition Foundation is a non-profit organisation that exists to support and promote the use of democratic lotteries such as this.
Involve
Involve is working with the Democratic Society to design the Citizens’ Assembly. They are a UK’s public participation charity. They develop, support and campaign for new ways to involve people in decisions that affect their lives.