LAB 4: How can diversity be promoted at local level?
7 November 2024 - 09.00-11.00 / Palais de l'Europe / Salle 8
Interpretation FR/EN
Sponsored by the Congress of the Council of Europe
By their nature, local government is closest to citzens.. This first level of democracy is fundamental to building community cohesion across diversities. One of the challenges often faced by local government in this respect is the political representation of diverse residents but also building alliances and share policy positions across diverse constitutencies. How can civil society also take up these issues to raise the awareness of local decision-makers?
Moderator:
Discussant:
Bryony RUDKIN, Member of the Ipswich Borough Council, UK
Maijlinda BUFI, Mayor of Roskovec, Albania
Network of Municipal open public spaces VCentriHUB, Kyiv City State Administration
Ukraine
VCentriHUB is a network of municipal public spaces (Hubs) for representatives of civil society institutions in Kyiv, consisting of three hubs in different Kyiv districts - Shevchenkivskyi, Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi. Two further hubs are planned in Solomianskyi and Dniprovskyi, with the aim of establishing one in each Kyiv district. These hubs facilitate local initiatives and serve as a platform for urban policy discussions, public consultations, and other civic activities in collaboration with local authorities. The Hubs regularly host events for children and young people, civil society representatives and civil servants, training courses for senior citizens, meetings and roundtables, presentations, consultations, creative evenings and more. The electronic platform www.vcentri.com - a specific service for civil society organisations (CSOs) - combines several city services for CSOs, such as the possibility of consulting news and announcements of events specific to Kyiv or launching electronic public consultations. In total, the platforms hosted 8000 events, 6000 of which were organised by civil society organisations. The number of visitors reached over 160 000.
Presenter:
Cascais Participation System, Cascais City Hall
Portugal
The Cascais Participation System (CPS) is a comprehensive framework established by the Municipality to promote civic engagement and participatory governance. It includes several initiatives aimed at involving citizens in decision-making processes, and encouraging and supporting meaningful civic engagement in politics, particularly among young people, women and minorities. To reinforce these practices, the municipality has restructured its organisation by creating a team specialised in the design and implementation of participatory processes, in collaboration with other municipal departments. With ten years' experience behind it, Cascais aims to transform these participatory practices into established public policy and promote a culture of participation at all levels of governance. The CPS aims to replace experimental approaches with an integrated strategy, fostering the ongoing democratisation of public policies. It provides a coherent framework for deepening local democracy, unifying municipal efforts and offering citizens a platform for deciding how they wish to exercise their citizenship.
Presenter:
With a degree in Social Policy from the Institute of Social and Political Sciences, she has been a public servant for 28 years at Cascais City Council. With a postgraduate degree in Sustainability and Agenda XXI completed at the Catholic University of Porto and another in African Studies at ISCTE, her great passion is people. As a leader since 2011, she has always seen teams as a challenge. Today she leads the team at the Department of Citizenship and Participation and is responsible for managing the Participatory Budget and Youth Participatory Budget, Cultural Associations and Volunteering teams. She truly believes that “everything starts with people” !
Digital Democracy Accelerator at local level, Symbiosis – School of Political Studies in Greece
Greece
The Digital Democracy Accelerator at local level involves a multi-stage process designed to engage citizens in the policymaking cycle. The initiative includes steps such as advocacy, design, outreach, idea collection, deliberation, and monitoring, ensuring diverse stakeholder involvement and inclusive decision-making. Its objectives include gathering citizens' opinions, empowering decision-making, including specific social groups, increasing government legitimacy, improving policy effectiveness, and holding public officials accountable. Actions include submission of proposals, mobilisation of support, feedback, audits, interaction with authorities and monitoring of implementation. The process is deployed locally, covering the entire public policy cycle with hybrid participatory methods and itinerant meetings. Participants include the public, vulnerable groups, local residents, and various potential partners such as local authorities, civil organisations, the media and educational establishments. The collaboration among these diverse participants and partners ensures that the participatory policymaking process is inclusive, well-supported and effectively implemented.
Presenter:
Ljubisa Vrencev is co-founder of Symbiosis-Council of Europe School of Political Studies in Greece. He has extensive experience with national and international NGOs in various Balkan countries, focusing on local development, intercultural communication, peace building and forced displacement. Vrencev worked with UNOPS, UNDP, Cooperazione Italiana and the International Organisation for Migration. He holds an MA in Local Development for the Balkans and has served as Country Director for Arbeiter Samariter Bund in Greece, managing refugee response projects. A lecturer on diversity, democracy and communication, he authored papers on development and migration. He speaks fluently South Slavic languages, English, Italian and Greek.
Emergency Response to conflict and promoting peace and stability in East Darfur, Youth Volunteers initiative for Peace
Sudan
"Emergency Response to conflict and promoting peace and stability in East Darfur" is an initiative of the Sudanese non-profit civil society "Youth Volunteers initiative for Peace". The initiative aims to promote peace among communities and deconstructing misinformation campaigns of Sudan’s war parties (SAF, RSF) that threatens social cohesion and ambitious willingness for peace & democratic transition in Sudan. It includes monthly meetings with relevant ministries to mobilise stakeholders, workshops on civic education and peacebuilding, TOT and community awareness training, awareness campaigns, as well as youth-led radio programmes on the peaceful coexistence forum. The initiative focuses on the state of East Darfur and involves community members - youth councils, resistance committees, IDPs, nomad representatives and local leaders - with an emphasis on cross-cutting age, gender, and diversity integration to promote peace and democratic transition in Sudan.
Presenter:
Said Ali, is an Electronic Engineer(Communications) he’s been regularly contributing in civil society and engaging with its challenging issues including youth empowerment, peace-building and sustainable development. currently he’s a Programme Officer at the Youth Volunteer Initiative for Peace YVIFP and a member of the initiative since its founding on 2017, Also he worked as a project Assistant at Commission for Refugees COR (2020-2023) and at Attamas Development Organisation ADO as MEAL Officer (2019-2020), he aims to amplify the voice and interests of young people from Sudan and Africa region in the global policy discussions.
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