Local and supranational policymakers lend their voices to the latest Designs on the Future webinar
With their very different but similarly non-traditional routes into public policy, Jacqui Dyer, deputy leader of Lambeth Council, London, UK, and Michaela Moua, the EU’s anti-racism coordinator at the European Commission, were well-placed to explore how opportunities for more inclusive progress in the field can be developed in the latest Designs on the Future webinar, Why Do We Need New Voices in Public Policy?
Critical issues including how to forge a meaningful way forward on increasing diversity in public policy leadership, the importance of access to opportunities for historically marginalized groups, and why bringing lived experience to the heart of policy making were key themes discussed in the public event, which marked the launch of the new program Public Policy New Voices Europe.
Key Takeaways:
- Non-academic pathways are fully viable routes into public policy.
- Lived and grassroots experience bring a real-world dimension to the public policy field.
- Making policy that is truly inclusive must have ongoing input in the decision-making processes from those whom it will affect.
- Large institutions need to be willing to adopt a multidimensional outlook when committing to change, meaningful diversity and the implementation of policy that meets the needs of the public it is trying to serve.
- Creating true inclusion and diversity in public policy institutions will provoke difficult conversations as part of real culture change.
Non-Standard Routes Into Public Policy
Dyer, an independent health and social care consultant, spoke passionately and movingly about her motivations for becoming involved in helping shape change for underrepresented groups.
Seeking better and more sustained intervention from public health services for a family member – “I realized I’d have to go to a different level to help influence shaping at the grassroots level, where care is delivered” – Dyer became involved in the ministerial advisory group for mental health, led by the UK Department of Health, as a lived experience adviser. She has since co-led the mental health taskforce at a national level, developing mental health policy for NHS England, before being elected to local public office in Lambeth Council.
Moua, the first person to serve as the EU Anti-racism Coordinator, outlined her own non-traditional pathway into public policy, which came after a career as a professional athlete.
Searching for a next step that would fulfil the same passion, Moua harnessed her desire for helping forge positive change and started work as an anti-racism activist at grassroots level. This opened the door to a career in public policy in her native Finland.
“I landed NGO jobs in Finland, which led to civil service opportunities and I worked for the Ministry of Justice on EU-funded anti-racism projects. That’s where I got this bug for the influence you can have at that level of working in policy.”
The Importance of Lived Experience
Lived experience was highlighted as a crucial factor in representation at public policymaking level.
“Inclusivity and co-production is the centerpiece of what it is that I propel, and lived experience is critical in that,” said Dyer.
“I mean that in terms of mental health and the lived experience of people who have mental health challenges, and the lived experience of people who have barriers in getting into employment or education.
“Paying real attention to the groups that experience the most marginalization, the most discrimination and the most disadvantage” is an effective way of helping to shape frameworks that provide a real impact on their lives, she explained.
Diversity in Public Policy and Pushing for Change in Institutions
The understanding within large institutions about how to effectively implement diversity and inclusion is another major area that needs to be tackled.
A diversity and inclusion office has been set up for the first time in 2021 at the EU Commission to help begin the process of addressing this, but as Moua explained, this requires difficult and uncomfortable conversations to make real advances.
Dyer also stated that even when such structures are put in place, it is equally important they are fully understood and properly implemented.
“The UK does have equality legislation, but many public sectors are totally oblivious to really fulfilling that duty,” highlighted Dyer. “On paper, there are incredible levers to improve lives of diverse communities, but they are very under-utilized.”
Representation at every level of the decision-making hierarchy and having marginalized voices at the table when policy is being made were more key points Dyer and Moua aligned on.
“A shift in culture to where a large institution such as the EU Commission can truly be a safe space for people with all their differences, is a process,” explained Moua. “If I don’t see people who look like me in the Commission, I’m not going to think it’s for me, that I’m welcome to this space.”
Expanding on this, Dyer said it was essential that helping people to prepare and be aware of what opportunities and career pathways into public policy exist was key to achieving more diversity and inclusion in the field.
“How do we support people to understand how to translate policy into action that yields results that are then about the improvement of peoples’ lives?” she said. “Public policy is with that purposefulness and intention if it’s operating at its best.”
Watch this webinar in full:
Designs on the Future is an online initiative to mark the 75th anniversary of Salzburg Global Seminar and to highlight bold visions and perspectives that can inspire change and help create a more creative, just, and sustainable future. To join our next Designs on the Future webinar, sign up to the Salzburg Global newsletter: www.SalzburgGlobal.org/go/subscribe
