e-Participa project Virtual environments for local citizen participation: principal bases for design Interdisciplinary analysis of municipal citizen participation for the design of virtual collaborative environments

2/17 Virtual environments for local citizen participation principal bases for design III.e-Participation experiences II.e-Participa Project I.What is e-Participation? IV.Principal bases for design e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

3/17 What is Citizen Participation? All kind of activities where individual citizens -as well as citizen groups and associations- engage in with the intention of influencing public policy, either indirectly or directly e-Participa Project e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design What is e-Participation? Transparency Neutrality INITIATIVEMOBILIZATIONPARTICIPATIONEFFECTS/RESULTS Political accord Social accord Administrative accord Plain objectives - realism Reach Representativeness- pluralism Information Deliberation Influence on policies Generation of participative culture Institutional coherence Our project focuses on participative processes oriented towards decision making at the municipal level Phases and criteria for participative processes and, more specifically, on those processes that are organized or at least supported by local government authorities.

4/17 e-Participa Project e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design What is e-Participation? What is Citizen e-Participation? The utilization of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) mainly Internet to promote and support citizen participation Obstacles for e-Participation: Legal Organizational Cultural Technical and financial capacity

5/17 What is it? e-Participa is a PhD research project at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Spain) to design a virtual environment aimed to reinforce citizen participation at the municipal level. How will it be developed? By means of an interdisciplinary methodological approach which combines socio-political analysis with systems design methodologies, thus integrating the knowledge of real day to day citizen participation with the enabling capabilities offered by the Internet. e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

6/17 Theoretical analysis Sociological research Design Evaluation Previous knowledge Objective Technical research Theoretical analysis Theories on Citizen Participation, eDemocracy, eGovernment, etc. Participation experiences e-Participation systems & experiences Requisites Principles Sociological research Ceará (Brazil): o Participation in developing countries Catalonia (Spain): o Municipal e-Participation Technical research Applicable technologies Accessibility Design Functionality GUI Internal structure Participatory processes Business models Prototype Evaluation Citizens Citizen organizations Town-hall civil servants Politicians Participation experts Requisites Construction Final design Pilot installations city-kiosey v.1 to the future Construction Free Software University bound External funding Pilot installations Spain Brazil Argentina e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

7/17 Lessons learnt: Positive consequences of e-participation Key factors for successful e participation initiatives Shortcomings of current virtual environments Several e-participation experiences around the world have been analyzed: Consensus DEMOS Dito & Digalo EDEN Webocracy Estatut Catalá OPA Ipatinga... e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? Principal bases for design e-Participation experiences

8/17 Information sharing Quality discussions and effective communication The documentation of participative processes while promoting their transparency The extension of citizen participation to a greater number and range of citizen groups Positive consequences of e participation e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? Principal bases for design e-Participation experiences

9/17 Some are shared with face-to-face participation: Thorough planning of the participative process Commitment to the process on the part of political and administrative entities Promotion of the processes Virtual participative environment Guarantee universal public access to the system Adequate training of citizens and public servants Mediation (or facilitation) of discussions Key factors for successful e participation initiatives e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? Principal bases for design e-Participation experiences

10/17 Predominance of systems using proprietary software Do not take into account the role of moderators Participative processes lack continuity, consisting normally of isolated events Main limitation: lack of compatibility with the necessities and characteristics of the municipal environment Shortcomings of current virtual environments e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? Principal bases for design e-Participation experiences

11/17 1.A focus on the municipal environment 2.Attention to the groups involved in citizen participation 3.Support for the face-to-face participative methods already in operation 4.Development based on Free Software 5.Temporary use of the participation system 6.A tool for municipal government AND citizens groups 7.Promoting increased knowledge and social networks 8.Quality discussion, supported by mediation and transparency 9.Citizenship School e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

12/17 Electronic participation supports and complements rather than substitutes face-to-face participative mechanisms and processes The system can be easily integrated into existing face-to-face participative processes: Participatory Budgeting Citizen Councils Neighborhood participative processes Internal participative work of government and citizen organizations Support for the face-to-face participative methods already in operation e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

13/17 Advantages associated with open source software: lower cost of development and implementation higher level of technological innovation independence with respect to suppliers greater security and privacy greater adaptability to specific needs support of a greater number of languages Whatever improvements that a municipality incorporates into the system to attend to its specific needs will be available to the entire community of users. 4. Development based on Free Software e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

14/17 1.A focus on the municipal environment 2.Attention to the groups involved in citizen participation 3.Support for the face-to-face participative methods already in operation 4.Development based on Free Software 5.Temporary use of the participation system 6.A tool for municipal government AND citizens groups 7.Promoting increased knowledge and social networks 8.Quality discussion, supported by mediation and transparency 9.Citizenship School e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

15/17 The system will seek to take advantage of Internet capabilities in order to promote knowledge sharing, social networking, and a culture of collaboration amongst citizens Examples of collaborative tools: User profiles Possibility of personalizing the system Recognition of quality participation 7. Promoting increased knowledge and social networks e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

16/17 The system needs to promote informed, reflective, quality discussions that lead to thoughtful decisions, buttressed by the contributions of the different collectives involved User-friendly interface that facilitates: Integration with s Incorporation of the discussions in a specific result oriented participative methodology Easy monitoring of the discussion and intuitive access to the interventions High communicative expressivity Debate mediation/facilitation: with tools for analysis of interventions, the creation of summaries and questionnaires that participants will respond to, and the introduction of sub forums, etc. high transparency level guaranteed by the system 8. Quality discussion, supported by mediation and transparency e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

17/17 1.A focus on the municipal environment 2.Attention to the groups involved in citizen participation 3.Support for the face-to-face participative methods already in operation 4.Development based on Free Software 5.Temporary use of the participation system 6.A tool for municipal government AND citizens groups 7.Promoting increased knowledge and social networks 8.Quality discussion, supported by mediation and transparency 9.Citizenship School e-Participa Project What is e-Participation? e-Participation experiences Principal bases for design

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19/17 Backup slides UML Design

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22/17 Backup slides Visual Design