13/12/2023

Dear colleague,

Welcome to this special end-of year newsletter edition - which coincides with the release of an important new Recommendation on promoting the engagement and effective participation of citizens and civil society organisations in public policy-making processes.

Below you can read about the significance of the recommendation from the point of view of Ângela Guimarães Pereira, the head of our Competence Centre.

We have wrapped up the last of our trainings for this year and more will come next year. In addition, a new training resources package on co-creation and deliberative processes is being developed by the CC-DEMOS in partnership with the Danish Board of Technology and ifok, specifically dedicated to public administrations and future trainers at local, regional and national levels across Europe. You can find more information about its development, structure and plan for release here. Stay tuned for more news on the progress of this important training offer!

We wish you a very happy Christmas and restful New Year.

In case you would like to know more about the Competence Centre and our work, visit our website or get in touch.

The Competence Centre Team

News

Commission recommends that Member States get citizens more involved in policymaking

A new Recommendation to Member States on citizen participation in policymaking suggests that co-creation and deliberative democracy could help build more resilient democracies.

Events and trainings

Apply to showcase your project at the 5th Festival

A call is open for proposals of citizen engagement projects and resources to exhibit their work at the Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Festival in Brussels in 2024.

Events across the Community in 2024

Check out our events page to see what's coming up in the year ahead, including workshops, conferences and more.

Procurement instrument for expertise and capacity to support citizen engagement in policymaking

The European Commission, Directorate-General for Communication (COMM), in 2023 published a Call to Participate in a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) targeting expertise and capacity to support its growing needs to engage citizens in policy-making. All economic operators capable of delivering services underpinning participatory processes are invited to submit request to participate.

Research and Reports

New JRC research project on integrated bioeconomy land use assessment

The project marks an important step in addressing the issue of sustainable land use in the context of a growing bioeconomy, aiming to generate a nuanced understanding of land system responses to bioeconomy-related policies across the European Union.

Giving a spatial perspective to our understanding of democracy and public participation

The new JRC project, ‘Public spaces as spaces for citizen engagement: Partnership to democratise science and policy’, comes at a critical time, given shrinking number and size of public and civic spaces in Europe and elsewhere, seen as important places for connection and engagement.

Why is it important to include citizens in urban policymaking to support biodiversity?

We asked project leaders and representatives from various cities involved in BiodiverCities, to explain why engaging citizens in support of biodiversity matters and when.

Participatory tools and models for stronger EU engagement

New research paper from ECNL presents an overview on emerging tools and models to help safeguard citizen participation at the EU level.

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Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union 2023

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Catalogue Number: KJ-BR-23-006-EN-N ISSN 2600-3244

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