Democracy on the menu at breakfast
Media releasePeople are invited to get their day off to a thought-provoking start at a breakfast discussing the decision making processes of local government.
Taking place at Deakin University's Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds on Wednesday 28 October, Breakfast at Lakehouse: Deliberative Democracy in Local Government – Community Engagement Practices is part of the University's DeakinWeek activities.
"Basically, deliberative democracy is about engaging people in the decision making processes of local government," explained Dr Phil Connors, Deakin lecturer and host of the event.
"We will be discussing some of the processes local government can use to foster community engagement and active citizenship. It will be a good opportunity for people to get an introduction to deliberative democracy and hear about examples of it in action."
Speaking at the breakfast will be Dr Andrew Vandenbergfrom Deakin's School of International and Political Studies and Mr Chad Foulkes, Community Planning and Development Coordinator with Surf Coast Shire.
"Andrew will be setting the scene by discussing different understandings of democracy and how they have come about. Chad will then speak about some of the successes the Surf Coast Shire has had integrating deliberative processes into their community engagement and planning decisions," Dr Connors said.
"It should be a good mix of theory and practice and hopefully will encourage people to think about how to incorporate the process into other aspects of decision making."
Breakfast at Lakehouse: Deliberative Democracy in Local Government is on Wednesday 28 October at 7.30am at the Deakin Lakehouse, at Deakin's Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds. Admission is free, but seating is limited.
People wishing to attend should RSVP tokelly.reaburn@deakin.edu.au or telephone 03 5227 1426.
The breakfast is sponsored by Deakin's Centre for Citizenship, Development and Human Rights and the Alfred Deakin Research Institute.
DeakinWeek is an annual event showcasing the best of Deakin University – bright ideas, creative thinking, innovative teaching and cutting-edge research.