“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could swipe left or right on our politicians?” Here, Professor Gianluca Sgueo is referring to the application of gamification to governance and citizen participation. 

Poland has the highest number of participatory processes in Europe. One of these is participatory budgeting (PB), an approach that the city of Rybnik has prioritised now for over 10 years. Situated close to the Czech border in the south of Poland, Rybnik was previously the centre of the Rybnik Coal Area and is a leader in other participatory processes too.  Democracy Technologies spoke with Mayor Piotr Kuczera about the city’s approach to PB and their nomination as finalists in the Innovation in Politics Awards.

Governments are digitalising fast, but not everyone is online. Elderly people are often excluded from online participation. International institutions and governments are aware of this problem and are acting on it. One example is the Portuguese city of Cascais.