Having clarity on the why, or the vision for the project, enables local authorities to embrace uncertainty on the how

Experimentation is the process through which we see how ideas behave in the real world. We do this by surfacing what needs to be true for an idea to work, and experiment to test whether it is how we imagined. Acting in this way requires us to start from a place of uncertainty about whether something works, and about how it works. This is often a different dynamic than the one that underpins the relationship between politicians, public officials and citizens. There is a belief that citizens expect very clear plans and ideas from politicians and public officials, which drives a desire to want to communicate with certainty at all costs.

Through ASToN, we found that local authorities were often reluctant to experiment, or engage citizens in experimentation, until they had a very clear idea of the solution and approach they wanted to take. They also believed that citizens would be reluctant to participate in something uncertain and experimental.

We learnt that framing experimentation was very important. When politicians and public officials had clarity on the vision for their project, citizens were more than willing to jump in and shape the solution with them. For example, Rehamna Province (Benguerir) hosted a meeting with doctors and health administrators to design a solution that would facilitate making health appointments across the municipality. The local authority had a clarity on their vision, which was facilitating access to healthcare and reducing inefficiencies caused by appointment making. Doctors and health administrators were more than willing to join in, shape the solution, and even asked to be more involved in designing further iterations.

Recommendation for local authorities who want to experiment: experimentation acknowledges and encourages uncertainty, which can feel uncomfortable to work with or share with different stakeholders. If you have clarity on the vision you’re looking to achieve, you can use that to bring others in to learn how you can achieve it.