During Working Package 6, I.R.T.E.A. together with the consortium of the project coordinated and consolidated the findings of WP 1-5, for the creation of the 1st draft version of the Manual on e-participation tools and methods.
The goal of the manual is to collect and present the tools in a youth-friendly way, along with practical examples, making them easier to understand and more accessible to EU citizens and to identify and exchange European good practices in the field of e-participation between European municipalities. In the framework of this WP, the first international activity of the project took place, in Athens, a4 hours conference with 55 international participants.
The conference took place on the 2nd of December 2022 at the premises of Gazi View, Iakchou 22, Athens.
The main goal of the Conference was to identify, map and analyze the digital tools used in the member states of the European Union based on the WP 1-5 and the development of a useful manual on how and in which cases they can be used. During the conference the draft of the manual was presented which included the key findings and the tools of the first working package.
Moreover, workshops took place in which the local participants together with the partners worked in order to identify and analyze digital tools that are in use in their countries.
DCP v2.0 aims at innovating the civic education process resulting in increased participation of young people in their communities. As part of this innovation, a user-friendly manual will be developed, which will gather and present a collection of known e-participation tools, with practical examples to enhance civic participation. In conclusion, the project attempts to assess whether investing in digital tools to enhance participation during COVID-19 is appropriate. One consideration is whether their use, post-pandemic, will maintain or extend audience participation. Additionally, activities that increase participants’ access to and interaction with planning processes, and the knowledge and data they provide, might also have positive long-term impacts on other stakeholders, such as local communities. However, we need to keep in mind that digital technologies are not neutral and should not be used blindly. As a part of the participation palette, however, they can potentially help projects to reach a larger number of stakeholders.
If you want to know more about the project, click here.
DCP v2.0 is funded by the European Union through Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV).