In times of growing economic, political, and environmental challenges, there is an increasing need to engage citizens into the political decision-making within their communities to enable them to shape the policies that affect their daily lives.

The Division on Elections and Participatory Democracy encourages and supports citizens, civil society organisations, and public authorities in all Member States to enhance participatory practices on diverse matters such as urban policy, school participatory budgeting, gender policy or environmental protection.

On this newly re-launched website you can find the latest news on Council of Europe activities in the field of participatory democracy, such as awareness raising activities on civil participation or trainings for civil society actors and public authorities on innovative participatory tool, key documents on Council for Europe standards and guidelines and or innovative practical tools for practitioners.

Are you curious? Take a look on our homepage and follow us on  Twitter! Learn how you can contribute to strengthen democracy in your local context!