Engaging diverse ethnolinguistic populations in local government decision-making: A case study of Auckland Council's Food Safety Information Bylaw consultations

Abstract

Governments create spaces for a two-way dialogue with citizens through public participation and consultations in policy directions and decision-making for projects. With an increasingly ethnolinguistically diverse population, these dialogues have become a practice in intercultural communication. A lack of representation of diverse viewpoints in public policy decision-making is a contributing factor to systemic discrimination experienced by countless minority populations. While some studies have been conducted in intercultural contexts, where speakers are representatives of larger ethnolinguistic groups, there is a need to identify discourse patterns and to understand communication within the public consultation environment. Through a case study of an Auckland Council Food Safety Information Bylaw consultation, I review the strategies used in planning and implementing these consultations, the patterns of interaction within them, how disagreement is dealt with within this context and potential barriers to engagement with ethnolinguistic minority groups. This is done through a lens of intercultural communication and willingness to participate on the part of both the participants and Council representatives in this process. This included an analysis of existing communications, past submissions to Auckland Council, and a review of the engagement strategies employed. Five market-day events were observed and followed up with interviews with a variety of participants and stakeholders to review key themes. I found the Auckland Council Food Safety Information Bylaw was especially effective in reaching the Chinese community across its online and market day events. While language was not as prominent a barrier in participation as anticipated, a cultural variation in the willingness to communicate with local government was observed. The results of this study demonstrated the need to offer multimodal consultation and engagement opportunities to reach different communities by providing both immediate opportunities for conversation-based discussions about proposed changes and reflective self-lead reactions through online submissions. The need for intercultural competence and culturally safe consultation design by incorporating ongoing reflection by engagement practitioners, especially with respect to sensitivity to the environmental context within which local governments are communicating with the ethnolinguistic minorities.