As part of the Cork Smart Gateway Initiative researchers from the International Energy Research Centre (IERC), hosted in Tyndall National Institute, are undertaking a number of surveys which invite Cork people to have their say in Cork’s future development.
The ‘CorkCitiEngage’ team is rolling out surveys in schools, door-to-door and online, which give people a chance to express their views on their participation in public issues, digital skills, and use of public infrastructure. The purpose of the survey is to gather information on how people currently engage with public policy and decision-making in Cork. The survey uses an innovative and original ‘smart’ approach which uses crowd-sourced information gathered by student volunteers going door-to-door and an additional online survey. The crowd-sourced methodology is an experiment that will shed light on the possibility of sharing risks, resources, and expertise when carrying out this type of research.
In addition to the public survey, an online survey link has been sent to secondary schools and youth reach centres to get a younger perspective on engagement with public policy. A separate survey link has been distributed to local government officials in Cork City Council and Cork County Council to indicate the baseline level of public engagement in Cork. The Cork Smart Gateway hope that the results will help identify and prioritise ‘Smart’ initiatives for Cork which will apply smart solutions to improve the physical realm in areas including energy conservation and mobility.
