About the Project
The aim of the project is to improve the quality of public participation at the local level in the Czech Republic. We want citizens to have better conditions for engaging in planning and decision-making related to the development of their municipalities.
What We Do in the Project
To ensure that participation is truly meaningful—and not just an empty or even misused term—we focus on three key areas. Everything we do is aimed at enabling citizens to influence what happens in their communities in a fair, informed, and impactful way.
1️⃣ We Are Creating a Code of Conduct for Participation Providers
Participation is not a “last-minute survey” or a hastily organized meeting. To be effective, it needs clearly defined rules. That’s why we’re developing a Code of Conduct for Participation Providers—a document outlining what quality and responsible public engagement should look like.
We’re working on it together with experts from various fields: architecture, anthropology, public administration, and civil society. The goal is to create a clear and understandable framework that municipalities, developers, and facilitators can follow.
📌 What will it bring?
→ Greater trust from citizens in the processes they’re involved in.
→ Fewer misunderstandings between clients and implementers.
→ Less manipulative or symbolic “fake participation.”
→ Greater effectiveness and easier transfer of best practices.
👉 The Code will be publicly presented at a conference in 2025. This will be the first step toward broader adoption and practical use.
2️⃣ We Help Municipalities Engage Citizens Meaningfully
We know that participation only makes sense when it is embedded in overall planning—not used as a superficial gesture. That’s why we offer consultations on how to set up participation properly, along with hands-on supportfor municipalities that want to involve citizens in decision-making, for example through participatory budgeting.
🔧 What exactly do we do?
→ We help prepare solid participation plans—for example, when launching a tender for participation service providers.
→ We offer our own digital participation templates.
→ We evaluate what works in participation—and what can and should be improved.
👉 Thanks to this, municipalities can make better decisions about when, whether and how to involve citizens—and people can better understand how their input translates into real change.
3️⃣ We Share Good Practice
Without sharing experience, there’s no progress. That’s why we focus on awareness and education—through conferences, webinars, and direct communication with municipalities and experts.
🎤 What do we organize?
→ A conference on the quality of participation—where we share both good practice and cases that didn’t go so well (and why).
→ Agora TV webinars—on topics like public involvement in green measures or participatory budgeting.
→ We also create an overview of how participatory budgeting works across the Czech Republic.
