“Working with Global Research is both enjoyable and effective. They know their stuff, get on with the job and are always looking for ways to make it easier for us to work together. Their quality of work is exceptional.”
“MosaicLab are at the cutting-edge of public engagement practice. We have completed 100s of engagement analysis projects over the last 15 years, and have found our collaborations with MosaicLab are always innovative and lead to well-grounded insights. The information they collect is from people who are inspired to fully participate in each processes, and when we unpack the data to complete analysis we find it is robust, reflects the communities engaged with, and accurately presents sentiment and opinions. They are a pleasure to work with.”
Background and aims
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.
MosaicLab led the way in engaging the community using an online survey tool which, as well as enabling participants to indicate their agreement level and provide their own comments, allowed them to comment on and view others’ feedback on the six key ideas to focus on for the region’s future:
Density done well
Everyone able to thrive
Healthy country
Homes for all
Integrated, connected transport
Strong, sustainable economy
MosaicLab are an independent consulting firm that help organisations grapple with problems of all sizes through highly skilled facilitation and robust community and stakeholder engagement. They bring people from all walks of life together to collectively explore perspectives, solve issues, build trust, shape effective strategies and contribute to decisions that ‘stick’. See more here
Global Research’s role
For this project, Global Research took on the challenge of analysing multiple data points from 1,081 respondents collected using a novel, interactive online tool. We read and sorted all the comments on each key idea, then provided an accurately weighted presentation of respondents’ opinions. To make this possible, Global Research converted the relatively complex downloaded data set into an analysable format.
Design and method
This project involved both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. To analyse the qualitative data effectively, we sorted comments using NVivo - a specialist qualitative analysis software in which themes and topics are created and text coded and sorted within.
Quantitative data was presented using box and whisker plots to show the spread of agreement with each of the six key ideas. Analysis was also completed to understand differences of opinion by location and these were presented using bar charts.
Result
In general, respondents agreed with the six key ideas. The vast majority of respondents supported intervention to decrease socioeconomic inequality and increase good quality, accessible, affordable urban housing. Respondents frequently placed high value on the natural environment and prioritised high quality public transport over private vehicle use. The importance of local businesses and curbing urban sprawl was often raised.
In partnership with MosaicLab, Global Research prepared an informative report showing respondents’ opinions which was delivered to the G21 team. It can be found here.
Outcome
The results detailed in the engagement report were a key consideration for G21 in reviewing their 2050 regional plan (which can be found here).
The Geelong Region Alliance will use the results of this research to continue to support the delivery of projects that benefit municipalities across the region.
Another outcome from this project was that it was more evidence that high quality work is achieved when specialist engagement teams collaborate to maximise their shared expertise. MosaicLab was able to connect with the community in powerful and innovative ways, and Global Research was able to analyse and report on the information that was collected to deliver the highest quality outcome for G21 and their community, evidenced by the following comment from the G21 team about the finalised G21 Region Plan 2050:
“The scale and depth of the work that has gone into this plan provides a robust, community backed roadmap to 2050. It will give confidence to investors and planners and, above all, our three levels of government who will play a central role in helping our communities shape Australia’s most liveable and loveable region.”
Banner Image: by ArtyPhotoLife @ Pixabay