OBJECTIVE

Design a visualization utilizing quantitative data accumulated from one year of interviews focused on understanding the best way to address environmental concerns in any given community. This research revealed two key insights:

1. Citizens have the power to make or break government policy.

2. The most power individuals have for influencing environmental policy is on the local level.

The research then shifted focus to how to increase citizen engagement with local government, and further empower citizens to address their concerns.

OUTCOME

An interactive chart with a comprehensive breakdown of the barrier and opportunity categories that impact a citizen’s level of engagement, with the ultimate goal of designing an intervention that would empower and increase their engagement in the long run.

This chart was built based on data from 440 interview insights. Interviews were conducted with individuals across the United States to understand their personal experience addressing environmental concerns in their communities.

The interviewees included everyday citizens with diverse political affiliations, ideological backgrounds, and gender identities. We also conducted interviews with a diverse group of subject matter experts. This included policy experts, elected officials, political candidates, political and civic educators, and environmental advocacy organizations.

The raw data was sorted into a hierarchal dataset, falling first under an opportunity or barrier category, then into more specific themes, such as communication, role of individual, role of government, and local issues. The number of insights within each category were then calculated as a percentage of the total dataset and the diagram was designed with each category size proportionate to its percentage of frequency within the data.

By clicking on a specific subcategory the viewer can see direct quotes from our interviews that supported the category.

1. FEAR

Citizens across the country feel overwhelmed, afraid, and lost in the face of the catastrophe of climate change. Because the focus on climate change and sustainability comes from a global perspective, we learned individuals are paralyzed by the belief that their individual actions don’t matter. Across the country, individuals are caught in the tension of wanting to make an impact, yet not sure where or how.

2. CITIZEN POWER

We learned repeatedly of the power and impact individual citizens have in their local government. Local government officials are more likely to implement policies, processes, and projects that emerge from a collective community voice. Local politicians lean heavily on their community’s priorities to set their campaign strategy and subsequent priorities within office. In essence, citizens have a direct line into the heart of local government, helping set priorities and initiatives that have a tangible impact on their communities.

3. LOCAL KNOWLEDGE

Despite this reality, citizens have very little knowledge of how, when, or where to get involved. Across all levels, from federal to local, government is complex, often inefficient, and inconvenient. Civic engagement requires someone to have the time, variety of skills, and unlimited drive to do so successfully. This means, despite the potential, citizens rarely actualize their power.

Here: https://invis.io/TSPU9BIERN9