Participation Cookbook

How to implement a streamlined approach for incorporating participation and qualitative data
across the entire organization?
To gain a deeper understanding of the challenges, we
attended a town hall meeting to evaluate the current level of citizen involvement. Additionally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with a diverse group of stakeholders, such as city councillors, a deputy mayor, an urban planner, an inclusion coordinator, a project coordinator, and a service designer.

We worked closely with the City of Espoo's participation team throughout this process. We held weekly meetings and a collaborative workshop to jointly identify and tackle issues related to citizen involvement.
Citizen involvement is crucial for equitable and just municipal decision-making. In Espoo, Finland, a special "participation team" is responsible for encouraging and assisting the use of inclusive methods across the city's organization. However, the application and acknowledgement of these methods vary among Espoo's administrative sectors.


We propose a revised role for the Participation Team, which will focus on facilitating a cultural shift within the entire city organization regarding the use and value of public participation.

This will involve:
Standardizing participation methods.
Setting up a system to process results.
Transforming the decision-making culture.
My Role:
I conducted extensive research by reviewing over 50 academic articles and gathering valuable insights and information. Additionally, I carried out interviews to gain further perspectives and expertise. Utilizing this knowledge, I developed the conceptual framework and devised the model, shaping the project's core ideas.

To achieve this, we introduce the Participation Cookbook, a six-step tool designed to help both department teams and the Participation Team implement holistic participation strategies while spreading knowledge about citizen participation across all city departments.


The Participation Cookbook has three main objectives:

Ensure consistency in participation efforts.
Guide when and how departments should seek assistance.
Support planning and analysis phases for citizen engagement.


The Participation Cookbook is comprised of six steps: 

Starting Point, Planning, Promotion, Implementation, Analysis, and Sharing. These steps assist teams in involving citizens and utilizing participatory methods, from setting goals and choosing methods to analyzing outcomes and sharing insights with the organization.

For Detailed information, check our Report or my Blogpost.