9. August 2010 – 15:00 by John Heaven (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
Call Centre, by vitorcastillo on Flickr
In the course of researching our keynote speakers for the PEP-NET Summit I came across two articles, one of which is very relevant to (e-)participation, and the other will be of interest to anyone working in or with the public sector. They both put a matter of conventional wisdom under the microscope: in one case, the assumption that bigger engagement excercises are always more valuable, and in the other, the idea that economies of scale improve efficiency. Hence, they both challenge the assumption that bigger is better.
So the message is not to go with the flow — unless it’s economies of flow you’re talking about. Confused? Then read on …
5. August 2010 – 12:15 by John Heaven (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
Leicester Town Hall, stevecadman on Flickr
Sometimes it really feels as though we’ve arrived in the future: Leicester City Council is issuing a small group of elected representatives with touch-screen tablet computers with internet access. The trial will be extended to all Councillors if the Apple iPads can deliver the promised efficiency savings of £90,000.
The Gr8Governance blog, written by the Assistant Head of Policy and Governance at Kirklees Council, picked up on the story and noted the findings of the Councillor Commission, which found that technology is essential for Councillors attempting to serve a greater number of constituents with growing expectations that their enquiries will be answered quickly.
It’s interesting that the Daily Mail’s reaction was to criticise the Council for trialling the new technology in a time of financial cutbacks, when the intention behind the scheme is to save money by investing. This perhaps signals a Catch-22 that many local authorities will face in hard times: modern technology can help save resources by raising efficiency, but the cost investment required is can raise eyebrows.
The Council has taken a sensible approach by trialling the introduction of iPads with a few Councillors before rolling them out across the board. The reaction of the Daily Mail, a tabloid newspaper with substantial influence on public opinion, is part of the reason why experimentation is so difficult at the moment. On the other hand, putting the findings of the Councillor Commission into practice requires an element of experimentation. So it is important to make sure that, when trials take place, the results are spread across the public sector to allow a level of experimentation without excessive waste. It will be interesting to see what the outcome of the trial is, especially if it is transferrable to other local governments.
4. August 2010 – 09:32 by Bengt Feil (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
It is no big news that Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons and professor at Havard Law School among other things, is a smart guy and a great speaker. In this 18 minute presentation, given at TEDx Bosten on July 29th 2010, he explains the idea of citizens working for society and themselves through self-organised action. He follows the big issues at hand in the US (and the world) today. One might not agree with all the points he makes (I actually do not) he still makes some interesting observations.
Besides the content of the speech itself this is a great example of how to give a gripping presentation.
10. July 2010 – 11:45 by Bengt Feil (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
We are all discussing the potential of the internet for democracy everyday. But sometimes it is nice to here the arguments of other people on this issue. Fora.tv has posted a very good debate on on the question “Does the internet threaten democracy?” with Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), Andrew Keen (author of “The Cult of the Amateur”), Farhad Manjoo (author of “True Enough”) and Micah L. Sifry (Editor of the “Personal Democracy Forum”). All four stay in their tracks more or less (Yes Andrew Keen is as provocative as always). In the end it is more a discussion of media as a whole and less about the internet in particular. But it is very interesting none the less.
Junge Internetnutzer zwischen 16 und 24 Jahren werden im Rahmen von HUWY über das Internet der Zukunft diskutieren und dabei ihre eigenen Erfahrungen mit den neuen Medien einbringen.
Wer oder was ist HUWY?
HUWY möchte neue Wege gehen, um junge Menschen an der Politikgestaltung zu beteiligen. Das Ziel von HUWY ist die Einbeziehung von Jugendlichen in nationale und europäische Entscheidungsprozesse zum Thema Internet und Netzpolitik. Die Diskussionen können sich beispielsweise mit Fragen wie
Cyber-Mobbing,
Zensur und Meinungsfreiheit,
Identitätsdiebstahl oder
FileSharing
befassen.
HUWY ist eines von 21 Pilotprojekten, welche gegenwärtig von der EU-Kommission im Rahmen ihrer eParticipation Preparatory Action gefördert werden. Neben Deutschland beteiligen sich drei weitere europäische Länder an HUWY: Estland, Großbritannien und Irland.
Wie funktioniert HUWY?
HUWY gibt jungen Menschen die Gelegenheit, ausgewählte Probleme rund um das Internet mit Hilfe dezentraler Diskussionen zu erörtern, also dort zu diskutieren, wo sich die jungen Leute ohnehin mit Freunden und Bekannten treffen (online in Foren, Blogs, bei Facebook oder offline in der Schule, im Jugendtreff oder im Verein). Die Jugendlichen sind in der Gestaltung ihrer Diskussionen frei, so dass sie während der Projektlaufzeit (ab sofort bis Ende 2010) parallel oder zu verschiedenen Zeitpunkten diskutieren können.
Im Unterschied zu bisher praktizierten Online-Diskussionen besteht der besondere Vorteil dieser dezentralen Diskussionsstruktur darin, dass die einzelnen Gruppendiskussionen aufgrund der kleineren Teilnehmerzahlen übersichtlich und konstruktiv bleiben.
Die Ergebnisse der einzelnen Gruppendiskussionen werden schließlich den am Projekt beteiligten politischen Entscheidungsträgern auf den nationalen HUWY-Webseiten, den sogenannten „Hubs“, in komprimierter und gut nachvollziehbarer Form präsentiert. Es gibt eine „Hub“ für jedes am HUWY-Projekt beteiligte Land (Großbritannien, Irland, Deutschland und Estland) sowie eine Hub für die EU-Ebene. Auf den Hubs werden zudem Hintergrundinformationen bereitgestellt, um die Diskussionen, die Ergebnispräsentation der jungen Leute und das Feedback der beteiligten Politiker zu unterstützen.
Um die Teilnehmer bei der Durchführung der Gruppendiskussionen zu unterstützen, bietet HUWY Gruppenleiter- bzw. Moderatoren-Workshops an. Die nächsten Termine sind:
Summer Camp in Irland
Die Beteiligung an einer HUWY-Diskussion wird mit einem Zertifikat des Fraunhofer-Instituts bestätigt. Unter den Initiatoren und Leitern der Diskussionsgruppen werden zudem zehn Tickets zum HUWY Summer Camp in Letterkenny, Irland, verlost.
Wir sind überzeugt, dass die jungen Internetnutzer aufgrund ihrer intensiven Alltagserfahrungen mit den neuen digitalen Medien Experten auf diesem dynamischen Gebiet sind. HUWY möchte diese Generation darin unterstützen, sich nachhaltiger als bisher an der politischen Mitgestaltung des Internets zu beteiligen und dazu beitragen, die besondere lebensweltliche Perspektive der jungen Nutzergeneration für die Weiterentwicklung der aktuellen Internetpolitik zu erschließen.
28. June 2010 – 12:16 by John Heaven (TuTech Innovation GmbH)
Screenshot of vitalizing-democracy.org
As football fans worldwide roar at their televisions, the German Bertelsmann Stiftung is kicking off another prize with arguably more at stake than the World Cup. Has your project found new ways of involving underrepresented citizens? If so, you could be in with a chance of winning the Reinhard Mohn Prize 2011, with prize money of € 150,000!
If you know of a project run by a governmental organisation that deserves to win the Reinhard Mohn Prize 2011, simply visit vitalizing-democracy.org by 22nd August to nominate it. You can also discuss projects that have been submitted so far. By the following phase, which lasts until 6th October 2010, 20 projects will have been selected and you can continue to discuss them on the website. This will be followed by a public consultation before the prize is presented in June 2011 in Gütersloh, Germany. The person who nominates the winning project will be invited to the award ceremony. Read the rest of this entry »
Extended Call For Papers - eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government (JeDEM) Issue 3/ September 2010
Special Issue in Collaboration with
PEP-NET: Sustainable eParticipation
Guest Editors
Rolf Luehrs (PEP-NET, TuTech Innovation GmbH, D)
Francesco Molinari (SmartIntuitions Ltd., CY)
The eJournal of eDemocracy and Open Government addresses the theory and practice in the areas of eDemocracy and Open Government as well as eGovernment, eParticipation, eDeliberation and eSociety. The aim is to impact the quality, visibility, efficiency and use of research and work in eDemocracy, Open Government and related fields.
Call for Papers
The past decade has seen a significant increase in the number, variety and quality of eParticipation trials, particularly in Western and Southern European countries. The impulse of the European Parliament and the financial support by the Commission have been instrumental in establishing a pan-European community of practice, made up of academia, governments and solution providers from virtually all EU Member States.
Our “EVOTE” Conferences have become an international meeting point for e-voting experts worldwide. This year’s “EVOTE2010″ will be the fourth of it’s kind.
Today, June 15, the reduced early registration fee ends! (300€ including social events)
From June 16 the price will be 360€.
In order to get the discounted fee, register online today!
The 4. International Conference on Electronic Voting will be held from July 21 to 24 of 2010 in Bregenz, Austria. Please have a look at our internationally casted conference programme here.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the conference in July - so register now!
La Regione Toscana è stata la prima in Italia, e probabilmente in Europa, ad approvare una legge (la L.R. N. 69 del 2007) espressamente dedicata a promuovere la partecipazione dei cittadini nelle scelte pubbliche e ad incoraggiare la diffusione di nuove metodologie e tecnologie in questo settore. La legge ha trovato terreno fertile nel senso civico e nel tessuto sociale della Toscana. Nei suoi primi anni di implementazione, sono già stati concretizzati numerosi e significativi esperimenti di partecipazione su tutto il territorio regionale.
Per rafforzare l’impatto, oltre che la visibilità internazionale, di questi esperimenti, una conferenza di tre giorni (in programma tutti gli anni nel mese di Novembre) ha luogo nel meraviglioso paesaggio di Montaione – una piccola città posta proprio al confine tra le province di Firenze e Siena, che negli anni scorsi ha ospitato uno dei più significativi dibattiti pubblici sul tema della definizione di una strategia locale di sviluppo turistico e conservazione ambientale per l’area circostante l’antico borgo medievale di Castelfalfi.
Nel quadro delle ‘Giornate di Montaione’, la Regione lancia adesso i “Premi Montaione“, per offrire riconoscimento alle migliori esperienze di partecipazione (progetti di ricerca e/o implementazioni pratiche) a livello mondiale. Il comitato scientifico cui sono affidate le valutazioni è composto dai professori: Umberto Allegretti, Loic Blondiaux, Luigi Bobbio, Quim Brugué, Rodolfo Lewanski, Massimo Morisi, Yves Sintomer e Stefano Zamagni. Tutti i vincitori saranno invitati alla prossima edizione della conferenza.
Scadenza del bando: 31 Luglio 2010
Comunicazione dei risultati alle parti interessate: 30 Settembre 2010
1. Miglior processo partecipativo a livello mondiale
Il premio è attribuito a processi di partecipazione che sono già stati implementati, in Italia o al’estero. I candidati dovranno fornire informazioni sul proprio progetto in un documento di non più di due pagine, comprendente i sei punti elencati nella relativa sezione del bando. Il comitato scientifico inviterà un numero ristretto di progetti a presentare informazioni più dettagliate in una fase successiva.
2. Miglior paper di ricerca
Il premio è assegnato a giovani ricercatori (meno di 36 anni), Italiani o stranieri, per un paper – pubblicato o non– di 20-40 pagine, riguardante uno studio empirico su processi partecipativi. I paper possono essere scritti in Italiano, Francese, Spagnolo, Portoghese o Inglese. Il comitato scientifico provvederà alla loro valutazione. Il vincitore riceverà un premio di 2.000 Euro, in aggiunta all’invito a Montaione.
3. Miglior processo partecipativo in Toscana
Il premio per il miglior processo partecipativo sviluppato in Toscana sarà attribuito da una Giuria di Cittadini composta di residenti in Toscana estratti a sorte.
The Regional Government of Tuscany was the first in Italy, and probably in Europe, to pass a law (No. 69 of 2007) expressely aimed to foster citizens participation in public choices and to encourage the diffusion of new methodologies and technologies in the field. This law has found fertile ground in Tuscany’s civic consciousness and social fabric. In its first years of implementation, it has already promoted a good number of significant participatory experiments all over the territory.
To strenghten the impact of these experiments, as well as their internationally visibility, a three-day conference (scheduled in November every year) takes place in the beautiful landscape of Montaione – a small town located right on the border between the provinces of Florence and Siena, which hosted one of the most significant public debates held so far, concerning the definition of a local community’s strategy for environmental preservation and touristic development of a surrounding area to the ancient Mediaeval village of Castelfalfi.
In the framework of the ‘Montaione Days’, the Regional Government has now launched the “Montaione Prize“, to bestow recognition to the best known examples (research and/or implementation projects) of citizens participation worldwide. The scientific committee in charge of the evaluation is made up of the professors: Umberto Allegretti, Loic Blondiaux, Luigi Bobbio, Quim Brugué, Rodolfo Lewanski, Massimo Morisi, Yves Sintomer and Stefano Zamagni. All winners will be invited to the next edition of the conference.
Deadline for submissions: 31 July 2010
Announcement of the results to the parties concerned: 30 September 2010
This prize is awarded to participatory processes that have already been actually implemented, either in Italy or abroad. Candidates shall supply a file of no more than two pages on the project, and which shall include the six points listed in the relevant section of the call. The scientific committee will invite a restricted number of projects to present more detailed documentation in a subsequent phase.
2. Best research paper
This prize is awarded to young Italian or foreign researchers (under 36 years old) for a paper – published or unpublished – 20-40 pages long, focusing on an empirical study of participatory processes. The papers may be written in Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese or English. They will be evaluated by the scientific committee. The winner will get a prize of € 2,000, in addition to the invitation to Montaione.
3. Best participatory process in Tuscany
This prize for the best participatory process carried out in Tuscany will be awarded by a Citizens’ Jury randomly drawn among the Tuscany residents.
