Murrindindi Shire Council
Strengthening Community Connections with District Engage
With a small, dispersed population and ageing demographic, Murrindindi Shire faces a challenge familiar to many regional and rural communities.
To manage their important engagement projects and increase their membership of actively engaged citizens, the Shire Council looked to District Engage for a cost effective online engagement platform offering a full suite of digital tools tailored to meet their specific needs.
Murrindindi Shire is well known for its natural beauty and strong community ties. This large rural area north of Melbourne punches above its weight for community engagement, with a local radio station and a popular weekly local newspaper to keep residents informed and engaged.
But like many regions outside of a major metropolis, the Shire faces the dual challenges of a small, dispersed population and an ageing demographic. When it comes to community engagement, supporting Murrindindi’s businesses and volunteer-run groups through a central community portal has enabled them to share resources, stay updated on trends, and participate in council initiatives, fostering greater local involvement.
Across the Shire’s smaller towns which are home to an older population, face-to-face engagement plays an important role. But Murrinidindi Shire also uses an online community engagement platform to get the conversation flowing. “Dindi: In the Loop” provides the community with a convenient and easy way to engage, and ensures more people can give feedback and share their unique perspectives. This community feedback is an important input into Council’s decision-making processes.
When reassessing their community engagement platform, Murrindindi Shire’s engagement team sought a user-friendly platform with a comprehensive suite of engagement tools to support a growing online community. Several key factors drove the decision to move to District Engage:
Cost-Effectiveness for Smaller Councils: District offered an affordable pricing plan for regional councils with smaller budgets and populations. Plus, the full suite of participation tools was provided under this plan, allowing the Council to gather meaningful feedback without any constraints.
Integration Capabilities: One of the standout features was the platform's ability to seamlessly embed participation tools into any website, newsletter or media release, eliminating the need to navigate away to a separate website. This integration was a significant improvement, receiving positive feedback from the council team.
Usability for Diverse Demographics: District provided customisation options, such as adjusting colours and font sizes, making it more accessible for Murrindindi’s older demographic. The platform also included features like separate tabs for timelines and events, making it easy to navigate around the website.
Enhanced Collaboration Tools: The ability to easily share drafts and documents with stakeholders without requiring them to log in was a significant improvement over the previous system. This streamlined workflow allowed for more efficient collaboration across teams.
Support and Training: District provided clear, calm onboarding and extensive documentation, allowing the Council team to migrate at their own pace. We also offered ongoing training for council staff, including those not directly involved in engagement, to ensure a smooth transition for the whole department. The training was conducted in stages, starting with basic site usage and progressing to more advanced topics, tailored to the specific needs of the engagement team.
Platform Migration
The migration to District Engage was meticulously planned and executed in several phases to ensure a seamless transition. We handled the migration of content from 75 projects, including public-facing materials like documents, images, reports, and project pages. This process was automated to maintain consistency and reduce manual effort.
By using this automated approach, we preserved the historical context of all migrated projects while allowing for necessary refinements to enhance usability and align with the new platform's features.
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Developing tailored Local Government features through co-design
Since launch, the District team has been developing new features based on a co-design approach, including:
- Dashboard and reporting improvements
- Enhanced email and participant management
- Standard project and tool templates
- New ways to display and link content and tools
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Since adopting District, Murrindindi Shire Council has seen some great outcomes!
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Increased Online Engagement
The new platform has invigorated efforts to grow online membership, even among older residents who were previously reluctant to engage online.
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Improved Community Interaction
The platform has facilitated better community interaction through specialised hubs, such as a Youth Hub and a Volunteer Hub, allowing different demographic groups to engage more effectively with the council.
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Operational Efficiency
The ability to embed surveys directly into web pages and the streamlined editing and workflow tools have significantly improved operational efficiency for the council.
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Consistent Community Engagement
The platform's usability has led to a consistently engaged community, with residents actively participating and staying informed about local issues. The council has successfully maintained a single data source by integrating online and face-to-face engagement.
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Positive User Experience
- The council has received positive feedback from both the community and internal users regarding the platform’s usability and the ongoing rollout of improvements.
Conclusion
For Murrindindi Shire Council, the move to District Engage has been a success. The platform offers a cost effective and integrated solution that supports the Council’s commitment to community engagement.
The user-friendly interface and simple-to-use participation tools encourage local residents to engage with local issues and contribute their ideas, opinions and feedback to community projects, which ultimately helps the Council make informed decisions for the benefit of their community.
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