3 people taking part in a workshop in front of a whiteboard with education and transport written on it

Citizen power in Glasgow

UPDATE META INFO Glasgow is talking with, listening to and empowering the people of Glasgow to co-design a future Glasgow of which we are proud of and where everyone can benefit.

Across our projects, we’re working with citizens across the city, in communities and with young people to co-design the city they want to live in. Developing new ways of working to maximise their participation in the work of the council and the decisions that affect them.

We use design, data, and storytelling to empower colleagues and citizens to work together to understand the challenges we face in our neighbourhoods and find the best solutions for our people and planet.

Most of the big challenges we face as individuals, neighbourhoods, cities or even countries, are extremely complex and very difficult to solve. There are no easy answers and no single solution. We need to find a way to work smarter and more collaboratively. To build trust and understanding to find compromises and new ideas that are fair and sustainable.

A design process showing three stages: understanding people, making decisions and delivering solutions
Illustration of a multigenerational family talking, questioning and investigating with a big magnifying glass

Your Citizen Voice

Co-creating a new model for decision-making with citizens across local neighbourhoods in Glasgow.

A group of young people enjoying each others company and putting their arms around each other

Including Young People's Voices

Building a continuous model of input and relationships in turn for GCC and young people around decisions and discussions for the city, people and places.

A joined up network for people, place and planet

Our job at CCI is to develop and co-design how we empower colleagues, citizens, and communities to creatively solve the problems they face together. By combining our creative and inclusive approaches, place-making principles, and data science we are designing new systems, communities of practice and tools and methods to inspire a network of citizen designers and solvers to participate and co-design the city they want to live in.

So far, this programme has seen us build a model for participation in local neighbourhoods through Your Citizen Voice. The team co-designed the system with over 200 citizens that enables Area Partnerships, the local governance panels, to make decisions based on the ideas and opinions of as many local people as possible. Successful prototypes in Calton and Greater Pollok saw local citizens provide initial ideas and then vote on a final options list, spending £1m in their local area.

We have also developed a system for Including Young People’s Voices, which celebrates and elevates the voices of young people in communities and involves younger generations in shaping and co-designing the city.