Managing Partner Voices That Count Leuven, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
This session presents the use of SenseMaker, a participatory narrative inquiry and sensemaking method to support a citizen engagement process within a vulnerable neighborhood in the City of Sint-Niklaas (Belgium). The aim of this 3-year initiative is to engage citizens in a participatory neighborhood development process that connects and empowers citizens to have a collective understanding of the opportunities and challenges in their neighborhood and to stimulate joint actions (including participatory budgeting initiatives in collaboration with the city). Through the community-based story listening process, gathering more than 250 stories and the multiple sensemaking processes, the people involved gained a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the perspectives, needs and concerns of individuals and the neighborhood. It also supports the city to develop more effective and equitable policies and initiatives grounded in the realities of people.
