Making open and inclusive decisions

We make our decisions in an open, inclusive and accountable way

You have chosen to Sus Out how your group can develop more sustainably by making your decisions in a more open, inclusive and accountable way. This page will help you to understand the choices you have about how you make decisions and how you can use this knowledge to contribute to the sustainable development of your community and others.

What is open, inclusive and accountable decision making?

Open, inclusive and accountable decision making implies that in addition to people being able to see what decisions you have made, your decision making process and who has been involved is also accessible to others. In addition, your decision making process will be open to anyone who might be affected by the decisions you make and you will provide an open account of how the choices that have led to your decision were resolved. This approach is intended as an alternative to the less participatory decision making processes that have alienated many people from much political activity and to the exclusive processes of bodies that seek to exercise unaccountable forms of power.

Decision making and sustainable development

Sustainable development is a process that requires everyone to be an active participant in building the future. This needs decision making processes that are participatory and that respect the variety of perspectives a diverse community will bring to any issue.

How does decision making affect you group?

Every community group makes decisions on behalf of its wider community and that affect the quality of community life. In a culture that does not value broad based participation in political decision making, it is easy for groups to devalue participation themselves on the grounds that no one is interested. This has the potential to produce decisions that are made by very small numbers of people who are not fully accountable to their wider community. Many groups find it difficult to be in this position but do not know what they can do to change it. Inclusive decision making requires community groups to know who lives in their community, to respect and respond to their diversity and to be skilled in balancing vested interests with their community's varied needs.

Developing your ability to make decisions in a more sustainable way

Your group decided that it would like to develop the ways in which it makes decisions and engages with the decisions of others and you pledged yourselves to an action you could take to show that you have achieved this. A three step approach will help you to clarify your pledge and to put an action plan in place:

Develop your understanding of how decisions are made in your community.
Think about how your group makes decisions.
Review your pledge and plan what you will do.

When you have clarified your pledge and agreed on your action plan, a range of organisations are available to help you.

Helpful organisations

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Useful resources