Management and refreshment of the South Downs National Park Citizens Panel, 2020

Tender description

In 2017, the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) set up a Citizens Panel for local residents living within or near the South Downs National Park (SDNP). The Panel initially ran as a three year pilot, and we now plan to continue with a panel for a further three years. Having our own Citizens Panel enables us to engage with people who have not previously engaged with the SDNP and/or the work of the SDNPA and enables us to evaluate the effectiveness of our work. We have also used the Panel to obtain feedback about the issues of importance to them (such as climate change) which has assisted our and our partners' work. The time commitment for individual Citizens Panel members is small as they are asked to participate in just two surveys a year - one in the spring and one in the autumn. Occasionally, we invite Panel members to take part in one-off research studies - recent examples include testing our website and providing suggestions for improvements and feeding back on design in the National Park as part of the Peoples' Choice Design Review Award.