Insights

In response to a growing population and challenges for the Geelong region such as climate change and housing affordability, the Geelong Regional Alliance (G21) refreshed their regional plan in order to guide their strategies for 2050. This was a collaborative effort involving First Nations people and other regional leaders, as well as engagement with the community.

Our analysts read thousands of submissions when reporting on a public consultation. More and more often, submitters are utilising our handy friend ChatGPT to organise ideas and help write their submissions.

We’re proud to announce that Global Research has achieved SOC 2 Type 1 accreditation, marking a significant milestone in our commitment to data security, privacy, and client trust.

We work extensively with sensitive public, commercial, and personal data, and recognise that ensuring data protection isn’t additional to what we do—it’s a core component of our work.

Libraries, those tranquil places to get out of the rain, charge your phone, do your homework, and of course engage with knowledge and entertainment, have found themselves a focal point of the current US culture war. Increasingly, segments of the community are calling for libraries to be defunded over allowing them to hold books considered harmful to children because of their progressive themes.

Who would have guessed that wondering about how Belgian biscuits got their name would bug me so much?

A couple of years ago I took part in an outdoor programme that involved 3 weeks without using (or even seeing) a cell phone. This was somewhat of a challenge at first, but after a couple of days of being without it, I learned to love the freedom. The main issue I had with being out of touch with the world wasn’t that I couldn’t see what my friends were eating for lunch, or share photos of the beautiful scenery I was immersed in; it was not being able to answer my random musings with a couple of taps of my finger.

Sometimes I talk with organisations that consider it too challenging to ask open questions when seeking feedback from their customers or public. Instead they consider it safer to ask closed, tick the box survey questions.

Ironically, the reason often seems to be fear of their own success in collecting copious amounts of written information. They grapple with how they will analyse and synthesise it.

If you’re wanting to learn how to grow your following on Instagram or negotiate a brand deal for the latest collagen powder, this is probably not the article for you. However, if you’re looking to make a difference in your community and make your voice heard, keep reading!

My father is a retired cabinet maker – during the COVID lockdown, it was more evident than ever that I didn’t inherit his furniture making skills. But as a child when I did potter in his workshop, and asked to use one of his many tools, his answer was often a challenge for me. 

If there’s one thing that we’ve learned from reading and analysing tens of thousands of comments made on city place making and development projects, it’s that not everyone wants the same thing and that is because everyone wants the same thing: to have it their way.

Throughout history, humans have had a habit of making decisions based on what they think the people want, assuming they know what’s best for others. One lesson we’ve learned over the past few hundred years is how important it is for governments to understand their people.

New Zealand is about to embark on its largest infrastructure programme in a generation and the Government has proposed avoiding public input to speed up the delivery of projects. We outline an alternative, which accommodates valuable public input, without delaying delivery and avoiding our children and grandchildren having to live with short-sighted decisions.

The world looks very different in April 2020 than most of us would have imagined only a couple of months ago. The ways in which our day-to-day lives have changed are innumerable, but it is nice to see that governments and organisations are adapting in these uncertain times, keeping their people safe and their cities moving.  

Patrick was in Melbourne recently to initiate analysis of the Future Melbourne 2016 public engagement process.  With over 950 ideas posted to the website and 350 surveys completed, this initiative to mould Melbourne’s future is a fantastic example of how modern information capture tools can engage with citizens in a large city. 

The Global Research team was at Lincoln University in February, running some workshops to gather insights from Lincoln students about their student experience.  We had over 200 attend, and while the food and lollies were a hit, the workshops also collected many fine ideas.

Share an Idea was an unprecedented initiative which allowed the people of Christchurch to do many things – share, care, gather, dream and look ahead, following the 2011 earthquakes.  I remember one of the themes that emerged was a desire to provide children who visit the city with something fun to do, as old central Christchurch had no playgrounds and was pretty sterile for children.

It has been great to finish the year with a project for the City of Melbourne, analysing all the comments received on the draft plan for University Square.  I caught up with the nice folk at the City when I visited for the World Cup Final earlier in the year.  

Patrick had a fantastic time investigating possible research and analysis opportunities in Thailand and Singapore in June.  A lot was learnt about what Global Research needs to offer in order to be successful in this large market, and some new connections were made.