You can't listen until someone tells you something

How do you set up a participation plan that really activates people?

Tenants who think along about the necessary renovations in their building. Residents who have a say in the design of the neighbourhood. Young people who come up with ideas for improving youth care… The world can be so beautiful if we do it together. That ideal world comes a little closer if your communications department draws up a good participation plan. Unfortunately, that doesn’t always go well…

A great example of this is the story of Ernesto Sirolli, author and expert in economic development. His story takes place in Zimbabwe, where he worked for an NGO in his early years. One of his first assignments was to help Zimbabweans grow food. And successfully so. Because the fertile soil along the river soon produced giant tomatoes and courgettes. “But instead of asking the people why they had never grown their own food, we just thought: thank God we're here”, says Sirolli.

The answer to that unasked why question came during the night. When two hundred hippos emerged from the river to eat every last green leaf. Why hadn’t the Zimbabweans warned about this? Well, because the aid workers never asked… The title of Sirolli’s Ted Talk says it all: “Want to help someone? Shut up and listen!”. But before you can listen, you first have to motivate people to tell. That requires a successful participation plan.

A successful example of citizen participation can be found closer to home

Via the Youth Platform Amsterdam. The young people in the platform are between 12 and 24. The older members are mentors for the younger members. There are also parents who speak for their children who are younger than 12. The platform collects their opinions, experiences, tips and advice. And they translate this into advice stating how the municipality can better align help for young people with practice.

The platform also brings young people, parents, policy makers and professionals into contact. It lowers the threshold to hear each other and learn from each other. And this was exactly the wish of one of the aldermen of the municipality. That is why they decided to organize youth tables with the Youth Platform. The theme is determined for the meeting, such as youth care or foster parents. The young people discuss this for an hour, while the alderman listens. Afterwards there is room for a conversation between the alderman, civil servants and the young people.

A fine example of citizen participation. An example that takes the concept of “Shut up and listen” seriously. And an example that shows what it can yield if you successfully implement citizen participation. What the municipality of Amsterdam does very well in this respect is to focus on the question of the residents themselves. But how do you ensure that such a table is filled? And that the target group is really prepared to participate? Because it is difficult to listen if no one says anything… The alderman in Amsterdam was sitting at a full table, full of opinions. And it all started with a good participation plan.

The participation plan is a communication tool in itself

It makes it clear to everyone inside and outside the organization how the participation process will proceed. You want to create clarity about what you want to achieve, how you want to do it, who you want to involve, and when. So the participation plan makes clear what you expect from the various stakeholders. And it also creates expectations. So you want your plan to clearly show what happens to the contributions of stakeholders. A clear and concise participation plan is, to say the least, quite important. So how can you draw up such a participation plan?  

Ask yourself three important questions when creating your participation plan

1. Who is my target audience?
   To prevent you from coming up with a participation plan that the hippos eat, it is necessary to focus on your target group(s). Note: these are all parties from whom you wish, want or expect something. So both the parties that are going to make a decision and the parties for whom something changes. Make a stakeholder analysis for all groups involved. Make sure that you have answers to questions such as:
   – What are important themes for my target group?
   – What are the concerns or questions they have?
   – What information do they need? And through which channels do they prefer to receive it?
   – What interests are at stake? What is the impact of the project on them?
   – What influence can they exert themselves?
   
   
2. How does my goal align with the interests of my target group? 
   When drawing up your participation plan, don’t just think about what “we want”. For example: we want to accelerate the energy transition in this neighbourhood. Think about what they want. Perhaps the neighbourhood is currently worried about the lack of parking spaces. Or about their children who don’t have a lawn to play on. How can you tie in with your own goal from that angle? With green parking spaces? With energy-generating playgrounds? Ask the following questions before drawing up your participation plan:
   – What problem or issue do we want to solve?
   – How does this relate to what my target group finds important?
   – When is the goal achieved and the project successful?
   – What will be different in the world after we complete this project?
   
   
3. What are the different phases of the participation process?
   This is the coat rack in your communication plan on which you can later hang the rest of your communication strategy. A streamlined communication strategy will contribute greatly to the successful course of your participation process. Consider the different phases of the design of the process, the stakeholder analysis, the implementation and feedback to those involved. These questions will help you to get a clear picture of the different phases in your participation plan:
   – What are the different phases of the project?
   – What activities, decisions or results characterize the different phases?
   – Which deadlines have already been set?
   – In which phases do we use communication? And for what purpose?

5 points of attention for your communication strategy

You now know your target group. You know what they are concerned about. And you know the main points of the participation process. Now it is important to connect all these things from your participation plan in your communication strategy. A few tips:

Start involving stakeholders as early as possible

How and how often you do this can be decisive in the activation of your target group. For example, a quick follow-up after the first messages ensures more involvement. At the same time, it makes it easier for newcomers to join. This way, you involve the entire community in the progress more quickly.

Also ensure consistent follow-up. Has a milestone been reached, a decision made or an interim result achieved? Then these are the moments to inform, activate or consult your target group. You can determine many of these moments in advance because you have thought out the phases of your trajectory well. But be careful: always leave room for flexibility in your participation plan. In this way, you can make choices during the trajectory based on the knowledge and experiences you gain in the neighbourhood.

Use the knowledge from your stakeholder analysis to determine the form and frequency

In your analysis, you want to get a clear picture of what your target group's network looks like, what their cultural background is and whether they often visit certain places. Are the community centres well-attended? Then hang a poster there. Are they young people? Then you know that you don't have to place an advertisement in a door-to-door magazine, but you can increase your reach via social media. Or, for example, by hanging posters in the skate park. Ensure a good mix of different forms and channels. Also think about the frequency.

Make sure your communication is inclusive

Don't just focus on the active, visible citizens, but also on the "silent middle". Advisor and trainer Aart Paardenkoper states that this group can sometimes surprise you: "The silent middle sometimes strongly differs in opinion from the already known stakeholders and speakers." Do those involved register via a website? Then ask a few short questions to get an idea of ​​who registers. Do you see that a certain group is underrepresented? Then see if you can reach them in other ways. For example, by sending the invitation via (door-to-door) newspapers, flyers or e-mail. Or by sending something to this target group more often.

Also keep in mind that not every resident, tenant or other stakeholder will join at the same time. Some want to participate in a brainstorming session every week. Others just want to stay informed. And the rest will only take action once there is a concrete framework.

Make the threshold as low as possible

Of course, the question always remains: how do I stimulate participation? How do I ensure that my target group really actively participates? Well, by keeping the threshold as low as possible! Make sure that your message is clear. What are you inviting the readers for? What can they discuss or decide about? Where can they go with questions about the invitation? Make sure that you tell this in a way that the average Dutch reader understands. In other words: write at B1 language level.

Find ambassadors

These are people who have a stake in the participation process. You can of course pull the cart every time, but it works much more effectively if someone from the community does it themselves. Make sure that they promote the project through their own channels. Also ask the ambassadors for their opinion and advice. And think together with them about how they can breathe life into the participation platform. For example, by using a poll to let people vote on certain statements. This creates interaction and more active participants. And it is ultimately the most effective way to keep the hippos at bay.

Want to learn more about participation and get practical tips from experts in the field? 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 zoom in on participation in all facets.