Project description
The purpose of the project is the implementation of a participation model, which would significantly increase citizens’ participation in democratic life of the EU. Thanks to our project, citizens of 5 countries will get mutually involved from the bottom up in addressing social issues selected by them. The possibility to have an actual impact on shaping their environment will foster significant growth in civic awareness and responsibility as well as involvement in public matters.
Citizens often tend to notice social issues in their environment, but have no time, capability, means or sufficient knowledge to solve the problem. In addition, there are no effective mechanisms to control local authorities and influence them to resolve existing problems (low quality of local democracy).
Our project may help to change this!
Planned actions:
- 5 cities in 5 European countries will be selected for the project. A non-governmental organization will coordinate local activities in each of these cities.
- It is assumed that ca. 160 active participants as well as target audience of ca. 1500 will take part in the project in each selected city. Actions that will involve them shall be carried out via multiple channels, both as e-participation through a special IT application and through field activities: a conference that will introduce the project and volunteers’ work in the streets which will take 2 weeks;
- Citizens (project participants) will report the most burning issues in their environment; for instance: green areas, segregation of rubbish, traffic jams, parking spaces, repairs, mass events, schools and kindergartens
- the proposals shall be mutually consulted and commented by project participants and experts according to the crowdsourcing model, which will allow development of the best solutions. Users vote for or against available proposals, thus indicating their preferences in an ordered manner. Such will be the method of collecting data about social issues that require tackling as quickly as possible and proposals to address them;
- Proposals that receive the largest support from the participants, shall obtain assistance under the project by: developing a solution to the problem by the experts from a given field (technical and legal experts); promoting it in electronic mass media and through volunteers’ work in the streets; submitting the solution thus developed to local authorities, including, if necessary, organizing a petition or a referendum to give an appropriate legal mandate to the proposal;
- Then, in case there is such a need, the citizens will be able to organise collection of funds for implementation of the purpose they have defined together.
We believe that social participation is a particularly significant area of democratic civic life and a significant component of modern model public management where citizens, experts, NGOs, members of local governments and officers decide on solving social issues together.
Our project will help citizens in expressing their expectations, enable actions that aim at solving the problem (in cooperation with NGOs, experts, leaders of local communities), which will lead to growth in civic awareness and responsibility as well as allow European citizens to shape their environment actively.
The added value will also be the exchange of best practices and sharing the experience in solving local problems between communities of 5 European cities in 5 countries, as well as between different generations of their residents (intermentoring).
Role of partner organisation:
- Coordinating project activities in their area in cooperation with the project leader and the contractor who provides IT support.
- Ensuring a place for a conference/event, accommodation, transport, catering, providing human capital – volunteers, providing e.g. 1 expert for the project team, participating in the work on the release of expert team report.
Partners searched
We invite non-governmental organizations with experience in projects related to civil affairs to participate in it (please specify your experience in connection with the nature of our project).
Preferred countries: Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Romania.
Organisation presentation
The Kosciuszko Institute - a think tank-creating new ideas for the Polish and Europe - is an independent, non-governmental research institute, a non-profit organization, founded in 2000, The Kosciuszko Institute based on in-depth, interdisciplinary analysis, promotes solutions in the form of recommendations programming and expertise whose customers are the EU institutions, government, the Polish and European politicians and decision-makers, and the media, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts of independent thought and open debate.
KI experts influence public debate by addressing the substantial matters in social and economic life. As well as conducting several long term programs, we track the game-changing trends and day-to-day events by monitoring seven research areas: International Relations, EU and RP Institutions and Law, Energy and Climate, Security and Defense, Economy and Finance, the Promotion of Poland and the State under the Rule of Law.
Website: http://www.ik.org.pl