Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute community engagement practitioner Professor Janette Hartz-Karp says she is honoured to be part of the team that won an international award for Australia’s first Citizens’ Parliament.<\/p>\n
The Citizens’ Parliament was awarded the inaugural innovation prize in the International Association for Public Participation Core Values Awards for Australasia recently.<\/p>\n
CUSP’s Professor Hartz-Karp led discussions at the Citizens’ Parliament which was held in February at the Old Parliament House in Canberra.<\/p>\n
“I am delighted to be associated with winning such a highly contested award,” said Professor Hartz-Karp, of Maylands.<\/p>\n
“It is exciting that our pioneering work in deliberative, influential citizen engagement has been recognised,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The importance of empowering people to participate in politics through community engagement was one of the five priority outcomes of the report presented to Government.<\/p>\n
“I am fully committed to pioneering innovative ways to engage everyday citizens in decision-making.<\/p>\n
“I firmly believe this will strengthen our democracy and improve our capacity to address the critical, complex issues facing us.”<\/p>\n
Curtin Faculty of Humanities acting Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Jennifer Nicol congratulated Professor Hartz-Karp on her outstanding achievement.<\/p>\n
Australia’s first Citizens’ Parliament was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant in conjunction with The newDemocracy Foundation. Professor Hartz-Karp was a chief investigator on the research project with the University of Sydney and the Australian National University. CUSP is based in Fremantle, WA.<\/p>\n