PEPtalk is about the public’s involvement in decisions that affect them. In short, it’s about politics, democracy and citizenship.

Politics doesn’t just happen in Parliaments and Council chambers and it’s not just the domain of elected representatives, their officials, political parties, the media and other pundits. And it most definitely isn’t just about voting.

Politics also happens in cafes and outside farm gates, it happens in roadways, bedrooms, cyberspace and in Treaty grounds. It can be messy and highly charged. It can be sober, orderly and earnest. It can be fun. Anyone can do it. We can all deliberate. We can all be part of the body politic.

In a world of complex and contested issues – whether local, regional, national or global –  we at peptalknz want to join with others to re-imagine politics, democracy and citizenship. Bring on the dialogue. Bring on the experimentation. Bring on the learning.

PEPtalk is the blog of Public Engagement Projects and its partners, Simon Wright and John Pennington. PEP is a consultancy based in Wellington, New Zealand. No surprises then if posts tend to focus on things from around here.

This PEPtalk was first published on 21 July 2016. PEP’s thinking has moved on since that time as you’ll be able to see from the PEP website and subsequent blog posts.