Context

In early April, another edition of Voice Matters—a three-day community dialogue hosted by Co-operation Ireland—brought together residents of Derry/Londonderry to explore ways to build a safer, more inclusive city. Since 2022, the initiative has empowered people to share their stories, perspectives and experiences. This was the first year dembrane’s platform (formerly ECHO) was used to record and analyse those conversations.

“If I compare it to previous years, it was absolutely a game changer. In terms of how much writing we had to do and what we had recorded... we didn't get a quarter of what was discussed before, we only got what we had written on the flipchart. While now, at least, we got what we got.” - Facilitator

Event Design

The event followed a carefully designed program. Prior to the panel there was a skills workshop that focused on personal development workshops exploring values, human needs, and unconscious bias. Participants engaged in interactive exercises to identify core values and understand how biases affect community relations. This foundation-building day also included presentations on major council regeneration projects focusing on street improvements, heritage building restoration, and public space development. This set the foundations for the three day panel in April.

Day one

Day one’s theme was along the topic of learning. Participants heard from a number of local and grassroots organisations to present a landscape to identify gaps and provisions in services and where there may be barriers. The participants were asked to think along visually as well. How would a safer more inclusive Derry/Londonderry look to them? From these descriptions the Dembrane team generated some images to capture the sentiment of the day and to serve as a references for later moments in the program.

Day two

Day two shifted focus to dialogue discussing five key themes: education and awareness, housing and community planning, community trust, poverty and jobs, and mental health support. Expert presentations from PSNI officers and Community Safety Wardens informed small-group discussions facilitated by professionals.

Day three

The final day concentrated on developing concrete recommendations. Among the key outcomes were proposals for integrated schools, expanded mental health and addiction services, mixed social housing without divisive symbols, business rate reductions, and cultural awareness education beginning at nursery age.

Conclusion

Throughout the event, dembrane played a vital role in documenting the process. The portal captured discussions across multiple live breakout groups, allowing facilitators to track emerging themes while creating searchable transcripts that preserved the nuance of conversations. By recording insights, priorities, and solutions in real-time, dembrane enabled comprehensive analysis without disrupting the natural flow of dialogue.

“It was quite unobtrusive. It was just a phone lying there. People aren't put off by it... We did very quickly in our group— a thing of: 'is that still recording?' Yes? And then we’d talk again.” - Participant

The three-day structure—moving from learning to dialogue to recommendations—demonstrated how structured community engagement supported by dembrane can enhance democratic participation while ensuring diverse voices contribute meaningfully to shaping their city's future.