In preparing the Satakunta wellbeing services county, a Participation Road Show was carried out between June and December 2022, in which the citizens of Satakunta were engaged in discussion with the help of Topaasia playing cards. Riikka Törnroos, who works as a plain-language coordinator in the communications of the Satakunta wellbeing services county, took part in the discussions and games.
The purpose of the Participation Road Show was to involve citizens in preparing the wellbeing services county. They got to present wishes, concerns and questions about the new wellbeing services county. The wellbeing services county takes over responsibility for social, health and rescue services, which were previously the responsibility of the municipalities. The new wellbeing services county employs around 10,000 people.
“On the Participation Road Show we have toured almost all the municipalities of Satakunta where markets have been held. We have been at, among others, the Siikainen days, the Kuhinat of Säkylä, SuomiAreena in Pori and, most recently, the Jämi Christmas village. We have carried the physical Topaasia General deck with us”, Riikka says.
Topaasia - the General deck
At the markets there has been a dedicated game table, at which people have been asked: what, in their view, is important in the services transferring to the wellbeing services county, that is, in social, health and rescue services?
“A question like that is hard to answer cold, and that is where the Topaasia playing cards have helped us. People have been able to choose the cards that fit. In total we played 1,048 cards. The cards that most clearly stood out as the most important were Quality and Functionality. Those are what people have been particularly worried about”, Riikka says, and continues on how choosing cards helps convey citizens' thoughts to decision-makers:
“We have tried to strongly bring out the citizens' messages to the decision-makers, and we told the participants that the messages sent through these cards will certainly get through.”
Riikka compiled all the Topaasia discussions into an Excel sheet, from which she put together a summarising PowerPoint presentation for political decision-makers and the preparing officials. She feels it is important that citizens' thoughts are brought to the attention of those making the decisions:
“The words on individual cards, such as “quality” or “functionality”, do not say much on their own; in addition, the context from people's discussion and interview is reported. What lies behind those words? Why was it chosen? That is where the real value comes from.”
What good did the cards bring to participation?
According to Riikka, the cards made it easier to talk about the topic and served as a good icebreaker.
“The cards served as a support for talking about the topic. Especially if a person has not had to use health services, in which case they have no first-hand experiences and it is easy to think they have no opinion at all. The supporting vocabulary of the cards helped shape thinking and move the discussion forward.”
Some of the cards did not match the question, and the cards did not suit every citizen:
“Some people said that cards, or playing with cards, do not belong to their set of values. We also noticed that some cards are more approachable than others. For a public social and health service, “productisation” thinking, for example, does not really fit, and Reflection as a word caused confusion for some”, Riikka says
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Thank you Riikka and the Satakunta wellbeing services county!
You can order the Topaasia General deck from the online shop