Power of Participation & Communication

How does the day out?

On Tuesday 20 May 2025, Babbage is organising the event 'The Power of Participation & Communication', especially for communication professionals within the (semi) government. An inspiring day at Aristo Meeting Center at Utrecht CS where we will zoom in on participation in all its facets.

The morning

The day starts with a stimulating opening by Marije van den Berg, with a story about democracy, community power and policy. Afterwards expert Aart Paardekooper takes you along in engaging the silent center with the right questions. And we're going to work on that!

After a short break let communications consultancy Beaumont using successful and failed participation examples to see what really works. In an interactive session we analyse what a difficult target group is, where participation often goes wrong and what you can do.

The afternoon

Parallel session 1 is about Online Participation in motion. During this interactive session, Juliette van der Wurff and Natalie Rohlof from Mett will work with you on the four trends in online participation. No dry theory, but an active exploration of what works, what is difficult and how we can make participation more effective.

Parallel session 2 will be given by Marit Overbeek. As a committed citizen, she has been committed to a greener, cleaner and better connected Rotsoord (Utrecht) for over twelve years. How can the municipality better connect with what is happening in the city? What role do communication professionals play in this? Why should you involve the usual suspects? And how do you support residents' initiatives? Find out in this session!

How do you ensure that participation really works?

In major issues, such as the energy transition, urban development, infrastructure and social cohesion, citizen participation is becoming increasingly important. But how do you ensure that everyone feels heard? How do you involve the silent middle? How do you support citizen initiatives and online communities? And how do you ensure that participation is truly thought from the citizen's perspective? This and more will be discussed in interactive sessions and practical examples. During this event we will look for answers.

For who?

For all communication professionals, communication advisors, environmental managers and participation policy officers, and for everyone who deals with citizen participation and communication in their work.