Unsuitable communication, lack of knowledge about local government and lack of faith in community leaders have been identified as reasons behind lack of public engagement with the local authorities, according to a new local movement.
The Global Govjam, a worldwide initiative that focuses on bringing members of the public together to brainstorm ideas and to talk to people on the street on ways to improve local government's interaction with ratepayers, concluded its local workshop in Whangarei yesterday.
The initiative started in Australia about three years ago and this year, Whangarei is the first city in New Zealand and among 20 countries that participated in the 48-hour exchange of ideas.
Just four people took part in Whangarei but co-ordinator Nick Williamson said the number didn't matter because it was a fairly new initiative.
"The theme this year was 'trust' and participants had 48 hours to come up with a service solution for a problem they've identified ... and as soon as they can, build a prototype that solves the problem before testing it on real people," he said.
