Commonplace: who we are, what we do, and how we do it

Introduction

This page explains who we are, what we do, and how we do it. We'll explain in more detail how Commonplace works, demonstrating just how easy it is for you to share your thoughts and ideas with the decision makers, who create the places where you live, work, and play. 

Decision makers is a broad but appropriate term for the people we work with. When we refer to decision makers we're referring to, local councils and metropolitan boroughs, neighbourhood groups,  property developers, charities, government bodies, the NHS, renewable energy providers, infrastructure services, rail networks, public transport providers, and many more. 

Who are we?
What do we do?
How does it work?

Who are we? 

Commonplace is an online engagement platform. We connect you to the people who create the places where you live, work and play. 

Commonplace was grown out of a fusion of public need and expanding digital possibilities. Our founder and CEO, Mike Saunders explains how we came to be. 

My passion has always been in using digital channels to get large number of people participating in projects. Whilst doing a big citizen project with the Welcome Trust, I was involved in a local planning project which had huge public engagement problems; crowd sourcing and planning collided in my mind and an idea started to develop. Soon after, David joined as an expert in planning, and Commonplace was born. 

Image: Mike Saunders CEO (left), with Co-Founder David Janner-Klausner(right)

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What do we do?

It's our goal to help connect communities and local decision makers to accelerate positive change.

Commonplace helps local people and decision makers to co-create places. We give the community a space to speak and be heard. Why is this important? Because when places are designed by the people that use them, it results in better, fairer, and more inclusive places. 

Commonplace powers the consultation and design phases between communities and decision makers. We are always improving our product and adding new features, including 3D city scapes and Virtual Town Hall meetings. 

We've developed three key ways to capture and share your views, demonstrated as follows. 

Share your thoughts and feelings about your area 

Our Community Heatmap allows anyone to drop a pin anywhere on a map and leave a comment on a Commonplace project. You can make suggestions, view and agree with other comments, or answer questions customised by decision makers on anything from cycle routes to parking changes.

Give your opinion on initial concepts  

Each project has a Design Feedback section which is used to communicate details about initial design concepts. You are given the opportunity to comment on various stages ranging from strategic timelines to conceptual designs. 

Get direct feedback on specific designs

The Project Newsfeed is where decision makers keep you up to date with project events and progress. Most importantly, this is the main place that decision makers can give feedback to the community on how your comments and ideas are being considered.