1 March 2024

Public Voice: Common Ground

A proposal to improve Jersey's public realm through sustainable partnership was commissioned by Government of Jersey’s, Economy Dept in 2022. The research involved public survey in 3 languages and stakeholder interviews across 12 sectors. Key concerns across all sectors were not enough green space, too many cars and poor housing in St Helier. 'Public Voice – Common Ground' developed from this.

The vision of the Public Realm Partnership (PRP) is for St Helier to become a town for people - where all demographics want to live, work and dawdle. Enabling a more inclusive and engaged community through better public space.

The mission is to enable community voice to impact public space, resulting in a public realm that is loved by those that use it the most. PRP is a social enterprise whose role is to enable the best outcomes for the whole community through effective stakeholder engagement. It is a partnership between community, business and government.

Summary

A thriving public realm is somewhere people want to live, work, and spend time. It is good for the economy, community wellbeing and environment.

Public Voice: Common Ground was a pilot commissioned by the States of Jersey to understand how its public realm could be improved. The pilot and its’ insight were presented as an example of innovative and best practice at the British Irish Council’s ‘Placemaking in Practice’ symposium, Cardiff, September 2023. View the article here.

The pilot developed from earlier research to improve Jersey’s Public Realm that was part-sponsored by the government’s Economy Department (Gibb 2022). This analysis illustrated St Helier as the priority, with a consensus for more green space, trees, and places to hang out with no agenda. The Public Voice: Common Ground pop-up sites were based on these priorities.

Purpose

To deliver public realm improvement based on what’s needed.
To lead relevant public engagement that enables this.
To facilitate co-creation and value to all public realm stakeholders.

For more information, click here.

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