Involve (think tank)
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The Involve Foundation (known as Involve) is a leading UK based think tank and charity working on public participation.[1]
Background
[edit]Involve is based in Bethnal Green in Central London. It was founded in 2004 by Richard Wilson to determine how new forms of public participation can strengthen democracy in Britain and elsewhere.[1]
Activities
[edit]Involve's vision is of a democracy where people are at the heart of decision-making.[2]
Involve has worked with a wide range of partners, most recently the Cabinet Office, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and NHS England. Past partners include the Home Office, the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Ministry of Justice, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly, the OECD, the European Commission and the BBC.[3]
Governance
[edit]Involve's CEO is Sarah Castell and the Chair of Involve's Board of Trustees is Ed Cox.[4]
There has been some controversy in 2024 concerning the appointment of a trustee with links to Big Tobacco, Andrew Cave, since some of Involve's activities are in the health sector and this is seen as a conflict of interest.[5] Cave was Head of Communications at Philip Morris International from 2012 to 2022.[6][7] He is also a director of another non-profit operating in the deliberative democracy field, the Sortition Foundation.[8] This constitutes a notable concentration of tobacco industry influence, since these are the two main providers of public participation services in the UK. It undermines trust in the outcome of deliberations on health policy organised by them, especially in view of recent moves by the UK government to strengthen anti-smoking regulations.[9]
The UK's Chief Medical Officer Prof. Chris Whitty, who called for politicians to push back against tobacco industry lobbying,[10][11] has been asked to stop the NHS from cooperating with Involve and the Sortition Foundation on public deliberation projects.
Key publications
[edit]- Room for a View: Democracy as a deliberative system, 2015
- Civic Activism Toolkit, 2015
- Public engagement, not just about the public, 2014
- Can you hear me? Citizens, Climate change & Open Local Government, 2014
- From Fairytale to Reality: Dispelling the myths around citizen engagement, 2013
- Pathways through Participation: What creates and sustains active citizenship?, 2011
- Talking for a Change: A distributed dialogue approach to complex issues, 2010[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "About Involve | involve.org.uk". www.involve.org.uk. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "Our vision - involve.org.uk". www.involve.org.uk. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ^ "Home". involve.org.uk.
- ^ "Companies House, Involve Foundation, People".
- ^ "Involve is threatening me..."
- ^ "Tobacco Tactics, Listing for Andrew Cave".
- ^ "Andrew Cave's LinkedIn profile".
- ^ "Andrew Cave profile at Sortition Foundation".
- ^ "Tobacco and vapes bill".
- ^ "Protecting children, families and vulnerable from tobacco harms".
- ^ "Chris Whitty urges MPs to ignore lobbying and pass smoking ban".
- ^ "Involve – Publications". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-01.