Democratic participation in urban governance

Deliverables

Each partner city (with the exception of Aberdeen and Solingen who are an associate partner) has prepared the necessary administrative, financial and communications framework to build an Innovation Development Fund and its context into local democratic structures. Fully documented lists of actions to be undertaken have been drawn up with the expertise of new project management teams at City level, identified to give stewardship to the introduction implementation and ongoing linkages with the academic partner to ensure a 'learn as you go' action research approach. Citizens and elected politicians are fully involved in the process, acting as witnesses and advisors to the process. Approaches combine professional perspectives and grass roots views. Criteria have been developed within and across the partner cities on eligible expenditure and compliance with the Demos contract for each pilot action proposed. The methodologies vary depending on the nature of each pilot action and will be diverse. Partners arrived at an agreed set of criteria in June 2002. From the partners contribution to the drafting of the Research Framework and Criteria for innovation these include: - Actively engaging socially excluded groups; - Reaching individual citizens, not just activists/interest groups; - Use of ICT; - Capacity building, empowerment and confidence building; - Training; - Monitoring evaluating and interim reporting; - Communications and outreach; - Identification of links to local, national and European policies. Dissemination and use potential: Key project findings are being disseminated on an ongoing basis through the Policy Briefings which are available on the http://www.demosproject.org. Colour copies have been printed and disseminated to project partners for distribution to key networks and at key events at national level. Current status and use of the result and its expected benefits: Testing of pilot initiatives was scheduled to start in September 2002 but is currently around 2-3 months behind schedule in most cities. The ongoing liaison and exchange of information and experience among the partner cities during the testing period (through project workshops and specially designed intranet) offers an opportunity for informal benchmarking at this stage.

The result of Work Package 6 will be a final systematic evaluation of the projects interventions, to benchmark successes and constraints on achievement in the partner cities and for the research team to produce draft guidelines on citizen participation in municipal governance to a final symposium of interested cities across the wider Europe Using the conceptual framework developed in WP2 the research team, in association with the project network, has developed a quantitative and qualitative assessment framework of indicators and achievement in citizen participation in municipal governance, for presentation and review at the Mid-Term Assessment meeting, which will take place from 15-18 May 2003 in Krakow. In part this will be derived from on-going interim assessment of achievement/constraints during interventions in partner cities during that period. A review of the pilot actions within the partner cities will be made, to give a comparative cross section of types of interventions and spatial scale of intervention, and to capture areas of innovation. These selected pilot actions will be subject to detailed assessment of both outcome and quality of governance processes during the second half of the project according to the assessment framework developed above. Potential applications for the result: The final evaluation will include examples of replicable innovation and draft guidelines for pursuing innovations in local governance in EU member countries and beyond.

Demos has produced an innovative action research approach for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the projects interventions which produces not only deliverable outcomes but engages researchers with local government officials and politicians and citizens in on-going constructive assessment and critique of innovations of citizen participation as they are implemented. Potential applications of the result: The purpose of the action research approach is to maximise benefits of the project intervention not only to citizens of the partner municipalities and the project network but also to citizens of other municipalities in Europe and beyond and to drive forward the pace of innovation resulting from the project. The action research approach means that there is a concern for transferable learning across problem areas and from city to city and country to country. The Research Framework on Innovation in Democratic Governance and a related paper on Criteria for Innovation produced early in the Demos project outline key concepts and issues which relate to Demos's main objective - the fostering of innovation in democratic participation and the tasks of Demos researchers in relation to it. The second of these two papers sets our some general types of criteria for considering the selection of local pilot projects within the broader Demos project and provides a systematic background for subsequent discussions of more detailed, common criteria for assessing pilot project innovation and the outcomes of innovation. Three broad outcome areas are already identified: - Tangible influences on decision processes; - Tangible influences on service outcomes; - Citizens perceptions of involvement in, and fulfilment from, local democratic processes. End users of this result include local government officers and elected members, citizens and activists, voluntary organisations, NGOs and policy makers at all levels of governance concerned with the quality of local democracy. Main innovative features/benefits: An early finding of Demos (as outlined in Demos 2nd Policy Briefing) is about the way city and research partners work together at local level, with an "action learning" approach unlocking significant helpful knowledge about processes of governance. Action learning fits will with an emerging recognition in local government that, rather than coast along doing things in a traditional manner, a process of constructive review leading to incremental, non-threatening improvement, is a good basis for an healthy organisational environment. In this way Demos is different from traditional research in which academics "study" processes of urban governance, and comment upon them - but without becoming directly involved in their improvement. A key result for Demos will be to understand how organisations and community groups involved in governance can engage in action learning processes, and the contribution of action research to these processes.

Demos findings are to be exploited for the benefit of cities across Europe. In particular, it is anticipated that the project will stimulate debate within cities and have a strategic impact on citizen participation in governance across Europe. The dissemination of project results will be achieved through proactive information exchange with the following networks and contacts: Of the existing Demos partners Eurocities offer a wide dissemination network at strategic level for Policy Briefings, Interim Reports and Final Guidelines. Eurocities contribution to the dissemination phase of the Demos project comprises: attendance at the final symposium; proofing draft project results to ensure that project findings are relevant beyond the immediate core partner network; linking project results into different policy strands considered by Eurocities committees; and encouraging new policy and frameworks drawn up at the European level to take account of the project (including the East-West Committee). The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has offered the CoSLA Urban Affairs Network, the Community Planning Group and their website as channels for dissemination of the projects results. As a confederation of German cities with a particular responability for ensuring that lower tiers of government can contribute to the policy process, Deutscher Staedtetag will have a key role in distributing and proofing project results in the German context. Stadt Solingen will utilise existing contacts and networks for project dissemination. Of particular relevance here is the national CIVITAS network of the Bertelsman Foundation, with its specific focus on citizen participation and modernising local government. A detailed list of the links and communication channels which each project partner will use to disseminate project results are described in Chapter 7 of the original Description of Work. The cities, which expressed an interest in Demos during the development phase (North Jutland/UniKom, Liverpool, Newcastle and Rotterdam), have been kept fully informed of project developments to date and maximum benefit will be made of their contacts and networks for dissemination of project results. In addition to these contacts identified in the contract Demos has made a useful contact with the Council of Europe. The Demos lead academic partner was invited by the Council of Europe to participate as an expert inform their conference on Citizen Participation in December 2002 and was able to share early Demos findings with them. The fifth project workshop to take place in Utrecht in October 2003 will coincide with a national event on citizen participation in local government and provide an early opportunity to share interim project results. End-users Target groups include: the general public, professional staff and elected members of city authorities; partner agencies and stakeholders involved in local policy, decision-making and planning; national groupings of local government associations; NGOs such as citizens interest groups; national government departments and ministers dealing with urban affairs and the modernisation of local government; local area and thematic based networks; research and academic networks specialising in local governance; the European Commission; Members of the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions. Due to the action research approach, it is anticipated that the project results will be of interest to a very wide range of people and organisations with very different roles in local decision making practitioners, local citizens, politicians, academics etc. Dissemination methods include: marketing and dissemination of reports and policy briefings at various stages in the project for dedicated audiences (eg citizens, professionals, politicians), a project website (including the database of good practice, creating links from key websites used by the target audience to http://www.demosproject.org, and media liaison such as press releases and interviews to raise public awareness. An article has already appeared in the Municipal Journal in the UK. The dual involvement of both city and academic partners and the action research approach will reinforce the projects credibility during any advocacy work undertaken to influence national and European policy-makers. Whilst WP7 is due to commence in Month 26 (April 2004) work has already begun in raising the profile of Demos and creating a market for the final symposium and project results. A project identity and logo was created in Month 3 and an exhibition stand, leaflets and Policy Briefings have been produced and circulated at the following conferences: - Council of Europe, December 2002; - Netting Citizens, December 2002; - CoSLA AGM, attended by Chief Executives and Council Leaders of all Scottish Local Authorities, March 2003. The project website was publicised in December 2002 via a Demos e-Christmas card.

From the audit of International Good Practice and increased knowledge of partners experience in democratic governance, Demos participating cities and their partner academic partners have identified models and elements of existing approaches, which can be newly applied or further, developed and include new potential solutions to address barriers to more active citizen engagement. These are outlined below on a city by city basis. Experiments in citizen consultation using interactive ICT: Within the context of its decentralisation strategy, Aberdeen is strengthening local democracy through systematic consultation with a scientifically-selected Citizens Panel of 1500 residents, a Virtual Citizens Panel accessible to all on the web and a Young Person's website. Antwerp Council is fostering interactive decision-making in the neighbourhood and improving quality of life at the local level by a programme of neighbourhood consultation using ICT and other forms of interaction and development of action plans and neighbourhood websites across the city. The redevelopment of a railway yard as a new park is also an experiment in innovative mechanisms for involving citizens. City of Utrecht Council: Piloting drama as a method of improving citizen participation through local Community Boards and district programme and linking participatory and representative democracy. Chios is piloting easily accessible system of interactive information kiosks - 1 permanent, 1 mobile and a website as a tool for improving interaction between citizens, local government and voluntary organisations and influencing activities and services provided by local administrations. Edinburgh is testing new constituency-level decision-making structures through six Local Development Committees are taking forward 11 pilot projects with partners and communities ranging from local policy hearings, new ways of deliberation, involving young disabled people in decisions, shaping the environmental improvement of a local street, and the use of ICT for consultation and information on local issues and services. Krakow is focusing on community safety through District Co-ordination Teams in Novahuta. The City of Turku is developing working methods of neighbourhood working groups comprised of citizens, associations, voluntary organisations and civil society. A comparative study of two initiatives providing access to training and new technology to improve citizen participation in different parts of the city will also be piloted. Dissemination and use potential: These pilots respond to concerns about citizen apathy and mistrust of government but also to many positive opportunities, which exist to revitalise local democracy. As experiments they will address issues and barriers common to all European cities and as such will produce replicable learning. The ongoing evaluation of these pilots by academic partners will result in invaluable guidelines for how cities should approach improving citizen participation. Key innovative features/benefits: Past experience of devolved approaches to local governance - in the form of area management and enhancement of citizen participation in local decision making shows that there are no ready, easily-applied models which can engender productive local participation in governance in municipalities. Rather the record has been one of initial enthusiasm for devolved governance followed by failure to achieve practical, sustainable outcomes. These recurring failures of participation have resulted in disinterest and even cynicism about governance on the part of citizens and a discrediting of the concept of devolved participation among politicians and officers in local governments. The action research approach outlined in WP3 is a key innovative feature in addressing such obstacles Current status and use of the result: Testing of the Demos pilots has already begun in many cities. Interim results are expected in Autumn 2003.

The database takes case studies from countries, which are listed alphabetically. It contains examples of innovation at the neighbourhood or district (also called an "area") levels. There are many neighbourhoods and a number of districts or areas with the city as a whole. A neighbourhood has a history and a logical spatial structure (shops, houses, schools, churches, parks, etc.) and will have a population of something like 3,000 to 10,000 persons. It can be walked across comfortably and will have boundaries recognisable from the point of view of most of its residents. Most people identify most strongly with their neighbourhood and are well aware of the degree of its quality of life. For this reason, local democracy often starts in the neighbourhood. A district or area is an amalgamation of neighbourhoods, either from an historical point of view, as in the west side or logical for service delivery purposes. A district will have roughly between 40,000 and 100,000 residents. The database is also about innovation at the level of the local government as a whole. There are also some brief points of inspiration. The Literature Review fostered informed discussion over key issues and mechanisms of participation. An Audit of existing mechanisms and practices for citizen participation in each of the cities/municipalities participating in Demos (Aberdeen, Antwerp, Chios, Edinburgh, Krakow, Turku, Solingen, Utrecht) also provides points of inspiration which can encourage good practice elsewhere, recognising that constitutional and legal arrangements, and local political culture can inhibit direct transfers. The most sustainable innovations build on local culture and preference. A potential application for the database and the audits of the partner cities (and to a lesser extent the Literature Review) is to provide good examples and "points of inspiration" for local governments wishing to innovate in citizen participation in local governance, either at city-wide level or in neighbourhoods and districts. Potential end users include local government officers, elected members (politicians), citizens and activists, voluntary organisations and policy makers at all levels of governance concerned with the quality of local democracy. Main innovative features/benefits: An exchange of views and experiences in the early stages of the project has built on and increased the innovation element. The information in the database is deliberately presented in brief and easy to read format to encourage busy officers and elected Members to read it. There is no critical stance taken in presenting the good practice case studies. That is, no rigorous assessment was made of whether the achievement of participation, from the citizen point of view, matches that claimed. Rather case studies are presented at face value. As the purpose is inspiration, rather than critical analysis, this is in accord with the objectives of this survey. However the case studies being set up and monitored by the Demos Project partners will be subject to critical assessment, which will be published in a report in the year 2004. Analysis of the market or application sectors: Demos is responding to concerns about citizen apathy and mistrust of government, but also to many positive opportunities which exist to revitalise local democracy. Many cities across Europe recognise the need for innovative mechanisms for devolved, participatory local governance to achieve more effective local democracy, higher turnout rates at elections and more generally social inclusion and sustainable development. Potential barriers/obstacles to further dissemination: Information will have to be presented in a user-friendly, attractive, concise format to encourage busy senior officers, elected members and policy makers that it is essential reading.

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