Later this week, Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45^th US President after a very divisive and heated campaign. Earlier this week, Theresa May delivered her long-awaited Brexit speech which has divided Britain through and through; leaving scars that might take years to heal. 2016 has been an intense year for a lot of countries in Europe and beyond and 2017 doesn’t look to be any different with national elections in Germany, the Netherlands and France. In all three countries, right-wing populism is on the rise and if there’s one thing we have learnt from Brexit and Trump is that populism is a precursor for radical change.

Germany has seen an influx of almost 1 million refugees and countries like Sweden and the Netherlands are also struggling to make the case for an inclusive society. Angela Merkel’s “Wir schaffen das” has been used by new and upcoming political parties to express discomfort and anger to Germany’s place in a world in turmoil. Likewise, public meetings to discuss refugees’ housing allocations in the Netherlands have gone completely out of hand, even leading to riots in some cities. In both countries, people have used the phrase that we in this sector are all too familiar with, ‘the decision has already been made’.

Instead of ignoring what voters have made so abundantly clear in the UK and the US, we have to take their concerns aboard as it is testimony to a society that demands a voice and will no longer be ignored. If there’s one lesson that I have certainly learnt in the past year, it is that those who shout the loudest are the most visible. Polls in both countries were completely wrong in predicting the voting results and I wouldn’t be surprised if pollsters in Germany, France and the Netherlands are also wrong in their predictions.

Similarly, people no longer trust the establishment as many will use their vote to change the current status-quo. In this current post-truth society, it is very easy to ride on the waves of anger and mistrust by spreading false information from the comfort of your own living room. We’ve seen only too clearly what the impact has been when people make a misinformed judgment on other people’s convictions or where experts’ knowledge is cast aside as being biased.

I’m making the case for a more informed society, whereby public bodies oblige themselves to be as transparent as they can be, combating mis- and disinformation, and for consultees to allow for a more measured response to trump the usual rapid and dismissive reaction to any proposed change. It’s important for public bodies to realise that they are responsible for making the case for change and to recognise that this change may be a slow one.

To paraphrase Theresa May’s Brexit speech earlier this week; ‘the people have spoken’ and it’s time to deal with the situation we find ourselves in. Whether you agree with her or not, it’s evidently clear that the people demand a radical overhaul of traditional engagement structures. Let’s hope 2017 can deliver this.