How TikTok drove thousands of young Cantabrians to fill in a survey | Launching Huihui Mai

Public consultation on issues important to our future is essential for a well-functioning democracy.

But with so many different organisations constantly consulting on so many things, it can be a big ask to get people to care enough to have their say.

When the Whakawhanake Kāinga Committee (Urban Growth Partnership for Greater Christchurch) approached us last year to promote their consultation, they knew consultation fatigue had well and truly set in.

Great Scott’s challenge was a simple one – get 3,000 residents to have their say on what the future of Greater Christchurch could look like in 2050. Given the consultation was on what our region could be like in over 25 years’ time, there was a real desire to hear from youth.

The resulting ‘Huihui Mai’ engagement took place between February and April 2023. The survey was completed by 7,067 residents (exceeding the Committee’s target by over 4,000 respondents) and 35% of respondents were under 35.

One of the reasons for the success of Huihui Mai was creating a survey that didn’t look like a survey. We worked with our friends at Make to build a survey that was mobile-friendly, visually appealing, simple and fun.

An online dashboard showed respondent demographics and real-time graphs for every question. This information allowed us to pivot our comms to ensure we were reaching a broad spectrum of our community.

The outcome is one we are super proud of. Huihui Mai provided decision makers with the information they needed to progress plans for a greener, climate friendly future with more affordable housing and better public transport.