Greener Together Citizens' Panel FAQs
Why are we holding a Citizens' Panel?
The Greener Together Citizens’ Panel is an opportunity for people to help us shape some of our work to achieve a fairer, greener and healthier West Midlands. This might include improving the quality of our air; the green spaces we have close to where we live; the energy efficiency of our homes; or thinking about how we protect our communities from the effects of climate change. We want to hear from residents of the West Midlands who would like to work alongside us to develop new solutions and ideas that we can put into practice.
What is a Citizens' Panel?
A Citizens’ Panel is an established democratic process that is used all over the world. It brings together a randomly selected group of people who broadly represent the entire community. The people who attend learn about issues, discuss them with one another, and then make recommendations about what should happen and how things should change.
How are the 30 people chosen to be on the Panel?
Working with the Sortition Foundation, we are sending letters to 9,000 addresses across the region that are randomly selected from the Royal Mail address database. If you receive one of these letters, you can register your interest in taking part!
Once registration has closed, 30 people will be selected by lottery from those who registered their interest, to take part in the event.
This will be done in a particular way to make sure that there are people from all across the community attending.
What will the Panel be doing?
This is a 2-year Panel, with some members re-recruited for the second year. In the first year, the Panel will meet 5 times, once in-person and the rest online.
The Panel will focus on key challenges we have in the region such as how we can improve the quality of our air, through to how can we support and encourage people to improve the energy efficiency of their homes and places of work.
This is an opportunity for people for all walks of life, who live in and around the West Midlands, to hear from engaging speakers, and discuss the issues involved in small groups, with facilitators to make sure everyone has their voice heard.
The outcomes from the Panel will be presented to the WMCA's Environment and Energy Board; the group of elected representatives who lead the ‘greener’ work for the seven local authorities of the WMCA.
It will also be used to inform our next steps in relation to delivery of the Panel topics, all of which are still open for influence and collaboration with all stakeholders, including West Midlands communities.
How will the Panel members be supported?
Panel members will receive £300 to compensate for their time.
We will provide internet-enabled digital devices and an internet connection for use during the Citizens’ Panel meetings to those who do not have access to a suitable device or internet connection. We can support with helping Panel members to learn the IT skills needed to take part, including one-to-one phone calls and online introductory sessions. Technical support during Panel meetings is also available.
We will be publishing all outcomes from the Panel after each meeting.