A Greenest City Conversations research project led by Susanna Haas Lyons in partnership with the City of Vancouver’s Transportation Plan team.
Over 500 Vancouver drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders participated in a Facebook discussion event to give advice to the City of Vancouver and learn about the future of transportation in our city.
During June 2011, residents and commuters discussed key issues – like health, affordability, economy, and the environment – in small Facebook groups. Each discussion group worked together to evaluate strategies and propose directions for the City’s Transportation Plan.
Discussion groups ran for just over two weeks (May 31-June 19) followed by a chance to promote their ideas through public Facebook sharing and commenting (ending June 30). The conversation drew from public input received during previous public consultations, such as the Greenest City planning process.
Read a report of participant recommendations and summary of who was involved in Exploring Vancouver’s Transportation Future (pdf).
Read the Transportation Department’s response to participant recommendations (pdf).
Read the City’s summary of their overall consultation efforts (pdf).
Exploring Vancouver’s Transportation Future is a partnership of the City of Vancouver and Greenest City Conversations, a University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University group that is hosting and researching innovative public conversations about Vancouver’s sustainability future.
The goals of this online discussion were:
- Inform a draft Transportation Plan being developed by the City of Vancouver
- Provide residents, commuters and businesses an opportunity to share and hear different points of view about transportation in Vancouver
- Pilot a new methodology for engaging the public on city-wide issues
Results of the Facebook event and other public transportation conversations from spring 2011 will be integrated into a draft Transportation Plan by the City of Vancouver, which will then go back to the public for feedback in early 2012.
Hi…A friend forwarded me this invite and I was initially keen to participate but after going through the first couple of pages I dropped out. As a recent grad student (at UBC) involved in research I thought I would let you know that the reason I no longer wanted to participate was because I felt like the questions were framed in a very hierarchical and context-lacking way, therefore by answering them I wouldn’t be adequately presenting my opinions. I got the sense that if I got through that part I would get to a more open discussion forum where I might be able to more comprehensively state my views, but I didn’t want to have to put my ideas (as a checkmark) in a box before being able to do so.
I hope this feedback is helpful. Btw, I think using fb as a tool to solicit public involvement is a great idea, and wish you all the best in your research project.
Ella
Hi Ella,
thanks for your thoughtful comments about the intake survey.
It’s a tough balance between keeping things short and sweet, as people expect in social media spaces, and giving proper context as you suggest. If only we could do both! For background, one of the purposes of the intake survey is to get a snapshot of where people are at in entering the discussion, so that we can take a similar snapshot afterwards.
You are correct, that the project itself will feature tons of discussion and opportunity for deeper expression of ideas, values, needs, interests, etc. Maybe you will consider
‘plugging your nose’ to fill out the survey and come join us in the discussion event?
One question, can you tell me a bit more about the hierarchical nature of the intake survey questions?
I think there was a good balance in the questions, certainly there was more context than I feared after reading the above comment. I would encourage people to get in on the discussion!
I filled out the survey, which asked for information about me, and then thought I’d get into the policy questions. No, the site circled back to personal information. Perhaps this is because I am not a Facebook member, and choose not to become one because of documented concerns about how our personal information can be used by the company. (This isn’t about limiting access to a Facebook page, but about the company mining information.) If this excludes me from participating in the process, is there another way I can participate in discussions? The subject matter is about what I do.
Hi Michael, thanks for your interest in the project, and for your comment here about Facebook privacy concerns.
Taking a precautionary stance with Facebook is a position I respect, because it is clear that while many of us use Facebook as a public resource, it’s primary motives are business oriented. Therefore privacy concerns in Facebook must not be taken lightly. For what its worth, anyone that does use Facebook can mitigate some privacy concerns by adjusting their settings. See http://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation.php
However, many people – like yourself – are not on Facebook, so there are a number of other ways to get involved in the conversation about Vancouver’s Transportation Future. See the following link for information about other online discussions, online survey and a number of face to face events over the next couple months.
http://talkvancouver.com/transportation
I suppose I’ll add my two cents.
It would be nice to be able to send personalized messages when inviting friends to establish a better connection. Also, it seems that people who are already part of it aren’t gray-ed out as they would be in an event invite.
Thanks for putting this together, I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of it!
Hi Ben,
Good idea about the personalized introduction, and yes, I agree it would have been better if the invite a friend facebook tool was smarter. I guess the developer’s version of the tool isn’t as powerful.
Thanks for your feedback!
See you online,
Susanna
I received a comment by Facebook that I thought I’d share here with the author’s permission:
My answer was: