Background and aims
Every 3 to 5 years, Infrastructure Victoria updates their 30-year strategy and makes recommendations to the Victorian Government on how to address infrastructure challenges. Major challenges facing the region that present infrastructure opportunities are climate change, fair access, future shocks and disruption, and the economy. In the beginning of 2023, it was time to engage with the public to give them the opportunity to influence and shape the direction of the updated strategy to be published in 2025.
Our role
Global Research’s role was to design a survey that could adequately assess the infrastructure priorities of respondents, while taking into consideration constraints to funding and options, and to present the survey results in an easily digestible and informative way. The aim of this survey was for respondents to make trade-offs between future options and, through this, communicate priorities.
Global Research designed a 10-minute survey in which respondents were able to complete a series of 11 trade-off questions on economic issues, social issues, and environmental issues, and 20 priorities-ranking questions.
Design and method
To reveal respondents’ priorities, they were asked what they valued the most out of the options presented and then to rank them. For respondents to effectively report what they are willing to trade off, they had to use to use a sliding scale to state what was most important for 11 different trade-offs, for example: more street space for cars versus more street space for public transport, walking, and cycling. As well producing quantitative questions, qualitative data was collected by respondents having the option to write anything they would like to say.
By analysing the trade-offs, we highlighted the areas in which there was more agreement/disagreement, and in which areas respondents were willing to make sacrifices.
Result
The result was successfully deployed survey (completed by 271 respondents) and a detailed report for Infrastructure Victoria that clearly communicated what respondents were prepared to trade off and what their priorities are for the region. The priorities and trade-offs approach was an effective way to avoid the blanket support for idealised outcomes that so often arises from questioning respondents simply about what they want. This is vital in the case of any large project where limited funding and competing interests are present.
Outcome
The feedback from the community was added to information sourced from a youth forum, and informed the update to the Victoria’s 30-year infrastructure strategy. Victoria’s infrastructure strategy 2021–2051 was presented to the Victorian Parliament in August 2023 for tabling and will continue assist in defining the major infrastructure challenges and opportunities going forward.