Jessica Henry is learning more about the work Otago’s Centre for Sustainability does.
Jessica Henry is a Senior Engagement Advisor, with the Engagement Hub of the Ministry of The Environment – Manatū Mō Te Taiao (MFE).
This year, Henry received an MFE Chief Executive Scholarship, which gave her a ten-week secondment to enhance her learning.
Henry chose to spend her time with Otago’s Centre for Sustainability, due to its reputation for excellence in engagement.
“The Centre is doing amazing work with different groups and projects. The relationships they’ve developed with some of those groups is really inspiring,” Henry says.
She was also drawn to this placement by the work of Professor Janet Stephenson, of the Centre for Sustainabilty, on a model for engagement The Cultures Framework.
“This model provides a framework for policy writers to have conversations with the community much earlier, and frames what to find out and why.
Henry’s team at the MFE engagement hub is tasked with better integrating engagement across the Ministry and with their external partners and stakeholders.
“In a democratic society we need to make sure that the people affected by a policy have the opportunity to be part of the development of it.
“The ideal scenerio for us for a policy is that by the time it gets implemented everyone knows what it’s about, how to work with it, the effects it will have - and there are no unintended consequences.”
Since the Engagement Hub was established two years ago, the team has developed an understanding of the engagement happening across the Ministry.
“What we are finding is that multiple Ministry policy teams can be out engaging, with the same people and groups and not be aware of their colleagues’ work. We are trying to manage that and make sure that we come out as one, so when a group asks us about another policy we can give genuine answers.
“Another consideration is ‘engagement fatigue’ for our communities. There have been so many reforms - the rising cost of living, climate adaptation and other factors impacting our communities; and we aren’t the only Ministry going out. We are often asking the same people and groups in the community to take part in the engagement, and that can be a lot of work for them.”
Henry is also honouring the MFE standard of reciprocity on her secondment; holding career sessions with students, and making connections such as introductions for a PhD student to interview policy writers as part of their thesis.
She says engagement is a growing area for career opportunities. Her team at the MFE are from a diverse background, she does see studies in the social sciences as a particularly relevant qualification.
Henry sees value in her work, and is constantly learning more. “I do feel strongly that policy doesn’t work unless the people who are actually going to live it have been a part of creating it.”