PHOENIX's second year was strategic for achieving its goals and broader impacts, especially in relation to some main topics (energy transition, farm-to-fork, circular economy) that the 11 piloting territories are discussing, also moving from some "entry topics", that appear more attractive to citizens in some specific area (such as fire prevention and soil regeneration).
The 2nd year’s work grafted to the 1st year’s results, marked by extensive research to analyse the 11 pilot territories and generate a database of Sound Practices of Democratic Innovations (D2.1) to ground the further stages of DIs' enrichment and their capacity to support the implementation of the EGD transition path. The WP3, in collaboration with the 8 local partners in charge of bridging PHOENIX withy the 11 local territories, elaborated 11 specific configurations of Democratic Innovations, named “the Tangrams” and characterised by a systemic perspective that interrelate different participatory channels, methodologies and tools to generate Enriched Democratic Innovations (EDIs) that can better support the implementation of the EGD transition pathway. Every Tangram was analised and then approved or reshaped by the respective Territorial Commission of Co-design (TCCD), a mixed body structured in each pilot territory, designed to involve citizens and stakeholders in the co-creation and co-design of participatory and deliberative methodologies, tools and ICT instruments to be used, as well as in the monitoring and evaluation of each pilot-test. During 2024, 9 out of the 11 scheduled TCCD were structured. They started discussing their composition, rules and roles in order to enhance diversity of participants and the presence of socio-territorial vulnerabilities, and test their capacity of co-designing pilots, according to a Monitoring and Evaluation Plan, which include all project activities, particularly the assessment of the TCCDs and the piloting of each Tangram. These plans, which embed several Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), will help to measure the project's main impacts and describe the PHOENIX codesign approach to developing the evaluation plan as a shared space with civil society.
During Year 2, three TCCDs started shaping their pilot’s methodologies and tools, and one pilot performed its central activities (a Citizens Assembly in the city of Szeged), due to the need of anticipating an impending electoral act. An inter-pilot dialogue also started, to connect all the TCCDs, in order to stimulate their maturation through dynamics of cross-pollination among the piloting exercises. While shaping its supporting platform, PHOENIX also committed to networking with other projects, in special with Real-Deal and Share Green Deal, the Democratic Odyssey and the new Support Office for EGD. To ensure the quality of outcomes, a Joint Advisory Board was established with the twin project REAL_DEAL (funded by the same call, under GA nº 101037071): it involves academics and civic organizations active in complementary domains.
