What Is Systematic Participation and Why Should You Care?
Systematic Participation is a new approach to community engagement that goes beyond ad-hoc projects. Despite an increase in participatory budgeting and other participatory initiatives, participation efforts of local governments often fall short due to insufficient planning and inadequate infrastructure.
Read more
Digital Tools to Help Political Parties
Democracy technologies aren't just for managing deliberative and participatory processes, they can also be used to build, manage and grow political parties. Here are a few examples of tools that might help.
Read more
4 Common Administrative Hurdles to Digital Participation
Successful participation projects are about engaging your community. But they also require you to get your own administration on your side – which is not always all that simple.
Read more
What Municipalities and Developers Need to Know About Working Together
Developers and local governments are increasingly becoming partners in the development and implementation of democracy technology. But there can sometimes be a gulf in understanding that needs to be overcome. Here’s a few things to bear in mind before you begin.
Read more
5 Reasons to Avoid Online-Only Participation
Digital tools have the capacity to widen participation. But the most successful projects don't rely exclusively on digital formats.
Read more
4 Useful Resources on Digital Participation Tools
Choosing the right tool can be a tricky part of planning a participation project. Here are four useful resources which should help you get oriented, including a database that we have just launched.
Read more
Top 5 Advantages of Digital Participation
Participatory processes allow governments to map the needs of citizens and involve them in policy and decision-making processes that affect their lives, enabling the design of development strategies in line with the needs of local people.
Read more
How to Achieve Diversity in Citizens’ Assemblies
The question of representation in citizens' assemblies can be a thorny issue. But the best way of increasing diversity is simple: ask people what they need to participate.
Read more
Is Participatory Budgeting right for your community?
The purpose of Participatory Budgeting (PB) is to engage citizens in decision-making about shaping the place where they live. But they may not be the best solution for your community.
Read more
Does Citizens’ Participation become scalable through AI?
Artificial Intelligence can help scale participatory and deliberative democracy, but there are some caveats.
Read more
Top Five Things to Know about Civic Tech Before You Start
Civic Tech is enticing, and increasingly, it can even seem like an inevitability. However, there are a few things that you need to know and consider before getting started with the Civic Tech.
Read more
Antwerp’s 10 Conditions for Good Participation
The City of Antwerp has developed training materials to guide less experienced city employees through the process of setting up their first participation projects. The "10 conditions for good participation" are part of this guide, and serve as a checklist for anyone starting a new participation project.
Read more