Kendal Climate Change
Citizens’ Jury
What is a
Citizen’s Jury?
Citizens’ Juries have been run all over the world. They help figure out what to do about really big, difficult problems.
They are an example of deliberative process – a structured method in which a group of randomly selected people critically examine information, weigh options, engage in discussion and inform decision making. The group represent the diversity of the local population.
There is also a slightly larger version called a Citizens’ Assembly. It follows the same process, but includes a larger group of people.
The Process
A jury is recruited via invites to randomly selected addresses within the area. Individuals from age 15 upwards are invited to join.
A question is set for the jury to consider and discuss.
20 people are selected who reflect the diversity of the wider population (in terms of age, gender, race, attitudes to climate change and geography).
Jury members attend a set amount of sessions to share ideas and opinions and to hear from a range of experts.
An Oversight Panel, made up of local organisations, is established to ensure the process is fair and unbiased.
A set of recommendations is created by the Jury and presented to the organisers for response and action.
Kendal – 2020
The question: What should Kendal do about climate change?
4000 Recruitment letters distributed
20 Jury members selected
11 Sessions conducted
27 Recommendations created
Kendal’s jury was facilitated by Shared Futures and supported Professor Rebecca Willis and Professor Mike Berners Lee.
Kendal Town Council organised the jury and chaired the recommendations panel. The panel met twice to share progress and to develop partnership approaches:
Recommendations Panel Meeting Minutes – June 2021
Recommendations Panel Meeting Minutes – January 2022
If you’d like more information or detail about the process followed by Kendal Climate Change Citizens’ Jury process, please get in touch.
What Next?
Thanks to the Zero Carbon Cumbria Partnership many of the recommendations are being actioned collectively across existing partnerships. Former Jury members are kept up to date via regular newsletters from the Town Council.
At Kendal Town Council, we remain committed to the recommendations made by the Jury and are looking at how we can further our impact.
We are now developing a climate strategy to help provide us with principles and guidance for our activities as well as future projects. This will build on the foundation provided by the Citizen’s Jury, ensuring that we continue to take forward the recommendations and understand how the world has changed in the 5 years since this was delivered.
Accessibility
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