How to host aCOMMUNITY CONVERSATION

Horsham Rural City: Deliberative Engagement

Welcome!

Welcome and thank you for considering hosting a “Horsham Rural City Talks” conversation – your voice matters, and we’re excited you are exploring one of many ways your voice, and that of others, can be heard to help shape the future of the Horsham region. We want to hear from as many people as possible, from Natimuk, Laharum and Pimpinio to Wartook and Jung.

Hosting a conversation is a great opportunity to ensure that the views and wisdom of your community are captured. Your input, along with the conversations from every part of our region, are an important input into the development of our 20 year Community Vision and will help ensure our Council Plan addresses what is most important to the people of Horsham Rural City.

How to host a Community Conversation

If you are reading this you might be thinking about how to host a conversation - be it with friends, family, neighbours or your workmates. You can arrange a special get together or if you’re part of a group, such as a parents’ group, sports or book club, or any other community group, you can host a conversation at one of your regular meetings.

Hosting is easy. You don’t need any expertise or knowledge to host or participate in a conversation, just your thoughts and opinions. You pick the time, the people you want to join the conversation and your preferred way to communicate, in line with COVID-19 restrictions. Then simply discuss and record your responses to the questions.

This guide provides everything you need to know and it can be done in four simple steps.

1. Invite people to join your conversation, either online or in person. 2. Promote your Conversation and the Horsham Rural City Talks campaign to

your group. 3. Host your conversation using the questions in the guide. 4. Submit your feedback by midnight on Sunday 16 May.

COVID safe conversations

With COVID-19 in play, hosting a conversation could be a little tricky. Restrictions may be in place or people may not feel comfortable getting together in person. If it means you can’t host a conversation in person, there are many options available, including online communication tools like Zoom, FaceTime, Microsoft Teams and other tools you might already be using to catch up with friends, family or networks. You can make it really simple and just call a few friends, or a teleconference with a group of friends or colleagues.

Step 1 - Invite people to join your conversation

You may choose to arrange a get together or to host a conversation at one of your regular meetings. Start by thinking about the people you want to involve and where and when it will make it easiest for people to attend. While there’s no limit to the number of people you can invite, keep in mind you’ll need to guide the conversation and collate the responses. Around 8 to 10 people is probably a good number, but you’re more than welcome to have more if you can manage it, particularly if you have help.

Whether you’re inviting one or many, we’ve provided some text you might want to use to invite people to join your conversation:

Your voice matters, so please join a conversation to help shape the future of the Horsham municipality.

[I’m/We’re] hosting a Horsham Rural City Talks Community Conversation via [insert your communication channel i.e. phone, Zoom etc.] on [insert date and time].

This conversation is part of the Horsham Rural City Talks campaign, an effort to get everyone in our community talking about the future. Our conversation will inform Horsham’s 20-year Vision and will help ensure future council plans focus on what is most important to the community. Please RSVP by [Insert date].

For more information about the campaign and Community Conversations go to: https://oursay.org/horshamruralcitycouncil/horsham-talks

Step 2 - Promote your conversation

If you want to drum up some interest, promote your conversation and the Horsham Rural City Talks campaign to your group and anyone else you think may be interested.

If you are part of an organisation, service provider or group that sends out a regular communication, such as newsletters, emails or social media posts, you might want to use these channels to promote your conversation and invite your community to participate.

You can use the text below as a starting point for your communication.

Horsham Rural City Council is inviting all community members to get involved to help develop our 20-year Community Vision for the future of our municipality and ensure council plans focus on what is most important to our community.

Whether it’s parks and playgrounds, the arts, community services, local roads or major infrastructure – it’s our chance to help shape the Horsham region’s future.

There are lots of ways to provide input, including our upcoming Community Conversation on [insert date]. Our conversation is just one way you can provide input through the Horsham Rural City Talks campaign. For more information and to complete an online survey, visit https://oursay.org/horshamruralcitycouncil/horsham-talks

Step 3 - Host your conversation

The final step is to host your conversation! You can do this over the phone with friends, in your home with your family, at work, via online platforms such as Zoom/Teams/FaceTime or over the fence with your neighbours.

We have provided five key questions to get the conversation started and that we would like you to cover. If you have additional questions that you think are important to your group and will help shape the future of Horsham Rural City, then please add them to the list.

While we are keen to capture the specific views and interests of the participants in your group, we strongly encourage you to also think beyond your immediate areas of interest and consider the community as a whole in your discussions. You should be able to complete the discussion in about half an hour, particularly if you focus on the questions provided. Though there is no time limit, take as long as you need while the conversation is still flowing. Though keep in mind that you or a member of your group is going to have type up the notes!

Questions for discussion

1. What do you love about living in the Horsham region? Why is this important to you?2. What are some things that you are less happy about? 3. If there was one thing you could change to make our municipality better, what would it be? 4. What gives you a sense of belonging or makes you feel most connected to your community? 5. Thinking ahead to 2041 what would you like life in the Horsham region to look or feel like?

Tips to guide the discussion

We know that not everyone has done this before, so we thought it may be helpful to provide some tips on how to keep the conversation on track.

• Make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. If someone hasn’t said much, ask them if they have anything to add before moving on. Though, it’s important not to force anyone to contribute, not everyone may be comfortable to contribute on the day.

• Consider your audience when framing the discussion. For example, if you have older residents in your group, ask them to consider the Horsham they would like to see for their family and friends in 20 years.

• If no one has any thoughts on a question, try offering your own view and asking if people agree or disagree and why.

• If participants provide a short answer to a question, ask if they can tell you anything more about why they feel that way or to give you an example of what they mean.

• If people are struggling with a question, decide as a group how it may be interpreted and capture your thoughts in your notes.

• While we’re interested in capturing what people are less happy about and what they want to change, try and keep the discussion positive.

• If you are getting bogged down, remind people that this is an opportunity to shape the future they want over the next 20-years, so the time is best spent talking about our aspirations, rather than too much focus on what concerns people today.

Step 4 - Submit your feedback and bring your conversation to life!

Once you’ve completed your conversation, it’s time to let us know your thoughts, opinions and dreams for the future of Horsham! We’ve set up a few ways to submit your feedback:

1. Enter feedback directly via our online Community Conversation feedback form, which can be found at https://oursay.org/horshamruralcitycouncil/horsham-talks

2. Have your discussion and take notes in a document type like Microsoft Word, or the attached PDF pages. These can be:

a. Sent via email to todd@ie.community b. Delivered in person at: 18 Roberts Ave, Horsham c. Mailed to Council at: Horsham Rural City Talks, PO Box 511, HORSHAM VIC 3402

Fill in pages (print me)Question 1. What do you love about living in the Horsham region? Why is this important to you?

Fill in pages (print me)Question 2. What are some things that you are less happy about?

Fill in pages (print me)Question 3. If there was one thing you could change to make our municipality better, what would it be?

Fill in pages (print me)Question 4. What gives you a sense of belonging or makes you feel most connected to your community?

Fill in pages (print me)Question 5. Thinking ahead to 2041 what would you like life in the Horsham region to look or feel like?

Contact details

For more information contact Todd Beavis from i.e. community at: todd@ie.community or call 1800 270 786 or (03) 5314 9336 (standard landline call charges apply).

Where does this information go?

The output from the community conversations will be used by the Community Panel as a starting point to develop the Community Vision.

The Community Panel will include 40 randomly selected community members who represent the diversity of the Horsham Rural City Council area. This includes age, gender, cultural background and representation from all townships.

The Community Vision is produced and owned by the community. It will be used by Council to guide strategic planning and decision making about the future of the municipality. It will capture what our residents value most about their community and set out the vision for Horsham Rural City Council in 2041.

For more information about Horsham Rural City Talks – Our Future 2041visit https://oursay.org/horshamruralcitycouncil/horsham-talks