Participace

Background of the project

The project was supported by the OSF Foundation as part of the Active Citizens Fund program, which aims to support civil society and strengthen the capacities of non-profit organizations. The program also aims to inspire active citizenship and help disadvantaged groups. The Active Citizens Fund program entered the Czech Republic in September 2019 with the aim of supporting non-profit organizations regardless of their size and experience. In the Czech Republic, it is managed by a consortium consisting of the OSF Foundation, the Good Will Committee – Olga Havel Foundation, and the Scout Institute. The program is implemented under the EEA and Norway Grants 2014–2021. Through the EEA and Norway Grants, the states of Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway contribute to reducing economic and social disparities in the European Economic Area (EEA) and to strengthening cooperation with 15 European countries. An important mission of the program is also cooperation between the Czech Republic and donor countries. It is a cooperation between Czech non-profit organizations and organizations from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway

The project is being supported by the Open Society Fund Prague from the Active Citizens Fund. The programme promotes citizens’ active participation in public life and decision making and builds capacities of civil society organizations. The Active Citizens Fund is financed from the EEA and Norway Grants.

Implementation: 1. 4. 2022 – 30. 9. 2023

Full name of the project: Digital Agora in Český Brod – strategic planning with public participation using innovative tools, including digital ones, and dissemination of these procedures to other municipalities

Project description

Although participation at the local level is an established practice, municipalities often face the lack of interest or reluctance of the population, and they often do not have the necessary knowledge themselves. In the project to create a strategic plan for Český Brod, we apply a combination of digital and traditional participation tools (including Icelandic ones) to bring the greatest benefit to the population and the municipality. We trained officials and city management and together sought a balance between the priorities of the city and the public and traditional and digital participation tools. We are currently training politicians and officials in other municipalities throughout the Czech Republic. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of participation and increase citizen involvement.

Despite the fact that participation at the local level is an established practice, municipalities often face the lack of interest or reluctance of the population, and they often do not have the necessary orientation in a wide selection of methods and tools of participation, nor the knowledge of how to use them. Throughout the pilot creation of the strategic plan of Český Brod, we determined and applied the optimal combination of digital and traditional participation tools in order to bring the most benefits to residents and the municipality. We trained officials and city management in the use of (not only) digital tools (including tools used in Iceland), we tried to find a balance between city priorities and public input. Based on the case study of Český Brod, we raised awareness through an online conference. We are currently training other city representatives, creating publicly available online training and working on the application of e-participation tools in at least 10 other cities. The aim of the project is to improve the quality of participation, as well as to increase the level of citizen involvement.

Project objectives

The general objective of the project is to improve the use of digital tools to increase and improve public participation at the level of Czech cities. The specific objectives are:

– In cooperation with local partners in Český Brod and a foreign partner, adapt and use the optimal combination of digital and traditional participation tools for the strategic planning process. The management and employees of the city and its office will be competent to optimally use participation tools and will involve a larger number of citizens in planning and solving relevant topics.
– To expand knowledge about the possibilities, advantages and limits of using digital participation tools to other Czech cities.

Main activities

Analysis of the needs of the city and its citizens, establishment of a Participation Plan and preparation of digital tools for participation
Training of officials in participation and digital participation
Information campaign at the local level
Completion of the analytical part and discussion of the draft part of the strategic plan
Research on citizens’ motivations to engage in online or offline participation and creation of a case study of the city of Český Brod
Creation of methodology and training on the topic of digital tools for participation in strategic planning of city development
Final online conference
Training on participation and digital participation for municipal leaders and public administration employees
Development of internal capacities for communication with our target group