Online deliberation in times of crisis. Irish public forum on COVID19 policies

The pandemic has forced governments to adopt new strict measures in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Crises make structural problems more evident, test the resilience of societies and systems and require decisions in multiple directions. Over the course of the pandemic different perspectives were revealed with societies struggling with strict policies testing the limits of policymakers and citizens. The COVID-19 Public Online Forum, aimed at enabling a more participatory approach in addressing these challenges with a view to pointing out potential policy paths for the future of Ireland, accruing from citizens’ views. The research team developed an interactive online platform for the purpose of facilitating an online exchange of views between citizens and experts across six key research themes: Economy, Health, Social Impact, Environment, Education, and Technology with each structured in two or three discussion threads (topics). A number of videos (1-4) were integrated in each discussion thread with experts discussing key topics and their experience in the relevant research areas, thus, allowing for citizens to listen to a variety of views and scientific evidence and, hence, form their opinion on a more knowledgeable basis. The choosingourfuture.ie forum was open for public commenting during Science Week, from the 10th of November until the 18th of November 2020, and allowed citizens to interact with experts and express their opinion and preferences for COVID-19 and other related policies. The project outcomes provide useful reflections on the participative features that enhance the potential of online consultations while producing policy recommendations with an array of different perspectives on key policy areas. Funding acknowledgement: The project “COVID19: Public Online Forum” was funded by Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) grant nr 20/COV/0217