Why Does Participation Matter? A Guide to Citizen Engagement

This publication “Why Does Participation Matter? A Guide to Citizen Engagement” is part of the Communities Driving Change (CIVIC) project, and was developed by the consortium partner organizations of Faro (Portugal) - Contextos - Cooperativa para o Desenvolvimento e Coesão Social, CRL; Kaunas (Lithuania) - Asociacija Aktyvus Jaunimas; Thessaloniki (Greece) - United Societies of Balkans; and Timisoara (Romania) - Asociatia Centrul Pentru Strategii de Dezvoltare a Tineretului, aiming to support organizations and citizens on the topic of participation, by providing:

• A definition of fundamental concepts such as citizen engagement and citizen participation, individual participation, social participation, and public participation, and the Ladder of Citizen Participation;
• A collection of participatory instruments and strategies existing in the four partner countries, at a local level (Participatory Budget, Communal Assembly, Local Youth Strategy, Program of Initiatives) and national level (Youth Parliament, Students’ Union, Youth Council, City Alumni), and at the European Level (Citizens’ Initiative, European Parliament Elections, Conference on the Future of Europe);
• A special chapter dedicated to reflecting on participation in times of Covid-19 presents some solutions that were adopted during the confinement times in different countries such as France, Norway, Bulgaria, and others;
• A presentation of E-Participation and Digital Tools for Participation examples that are enabling civic participation by using new communication technology, shaping the way participation can happen nowadays and in the future.