Community Consultation

Community consultation is in crises world-wide because of a simple oversight: people do not have a singular, unified set of values. For example, as a motorist, a person loves speed. As a resident, the same person wants to remain 'resident' and hates speeding traffic.

Current consultation techniques force people to adopt a single identity with a singular set of values. Holding contradictory values (which is perfectly healthy) results in an inner tension. Usually, humans use this tension to find a creative way of satisfying their paradoxical desires. But when we are forced to adopt a single set of values this tension is projected onto someone else and they are blamed for our discomfort — 'the bad motorists' or 'the bad residents' or 'the engineers' or 'the politicians'. This results in the politics of blame and adversarial politics. It also means that the internal tension that should have been captured as a drive to creativity has been dissipated. The result is usually a win/lose outcome or a lose/lose outcome. The current approach to consultation and decision making can only ever result gray neutrality.

We call our approach 'moving to the third space'. Instead of being locked in mortal battle between opposing value sets, it enables participants to create the third option — a space in which the opposite values can coexist within themselves. This is not a rational process but a highly playful and creative process. Developing techniques and 'games' for this is one of Creative Communities International's highest priorities.

To find out more, download our free eBook: The Third Space.