While local authorities across the UK were focussed on their COVID response, consultation and engagement understandably slowed down considerably. This month, things have begun picking up pace again, with consultations opening on topics other than coronavirus.

It’s been busy for Simulator too – it’s not often we get two launching in a week, but when we do it’s worth writing a blog about it. Here are two organisations running Simulators at the moment.

The London Borough of Redbridge, UK

The London Borough of Redbridge are using a Points Simulator to ask their residents to set a ‘carbon budget’ for the borough. They committed to developing a plan to make all of the council’s operations carbon neutral by 2030 and to reduce all emissions to zero by 2050, which means they need to understand their residents’ priorities in order to deliver these plans effectively.

Simulator lends itself to helping officials make complex decisions because it empowers the public to understand the difficult trade-offs those officials need to manage. And climate change is one of the most complex issues there is.

City of Wichita, US

The City of Wichita in Kansas, US is, like nearly all councils in the UK, unfortunately facing a huge budget shortfall due to COVID-19. They’re asking their residents to help make $4 million worth of savings across the city. Due to the emergency, residents can only make cuts and can’t increase spending to any areas. The impact statements for all adjustments are super informative, so respondents can learn about the council’s financials while they take part.

It’s nice to see our customers using Simulator in different and creative ways. If you’d like to learn more about Simulator, you can book a free demo and we’ll walk you through it.