Twenty-six participants from Croatia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey discussed and learned about mechanism and tools how best to engage citizens in local decision-making during the second edition of the Council of Europe School on Participatory Democracy, which took place from 3-7 October in Cres, Croatia.
The event was organised by the Division of Elections and Participatory Democracy of the Council of Europe in co-operation with the University of Belgrade, Serbia and the University of Rijeka, Croatia. It is the core module of a training cycle on participatory democracy tools offered to participants from public institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs) from the six countries.
The 5-day training combined the presentation of tools and models for inclusive citizen engagement with interactive group exercises and roundtable discussions, led by international experts and trainers. The topics covered a variety of approaches to citizen engagement at the local level, strategies for maximising inclusion, exercises for designing public consultations plans, and included innovative methodologies for civil participation, developed by the Council of Europe, such as the Civil Participation in Decision-Making Toolkit, the CivicLab methodology, the Uchange Game or the School Participatory Budgeting method. Additionally, participants and experts stirred lively discussions on how to put best in practice a range of themes pertinent to participatory policymaking at the local level, including public space planning, urban planning, participatory budgeting and the conduct of Citizen Assemblies.
The intensive face-to-face training in Cres, which also contributed to create an international and inter-sectoral network and community of practitioners for citizen engagement in the Balkan region, will be followed by online tailor-made trainings according to the needs of the different target groups to deepen the knowledge on specific tools as well as by bilateral coaching where needed. A final experience-sharing event in 2023 is planned to finalise the learning process, where participants are expected to report on first results of practical application of the tools and receive their certificates.
Document:
Pressroom:
- Škola participativne demokracije počela u creskoj palači Moise (Novi List, 3 October 2022)
- POČELA ŠKOLA PARTICIPATIVNE DEMOKRACIJE(Facebook Grad Cres)
*All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations' Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.
