Posts Tagged ‘citizens’ engagement’

People-powered services: big words versus reality?

The outcomes of the “European and US stories of CHANGE!” Breakout Session We often tend to speak about community engagement like a mantra, but it is indeed the core element of collaborative public policies. Before rejecting the idea to engage citizens into the service delivery, because it seems too hard, we need to think critically […]

By Ferenc Szigeti, on October 23rd, 2018 at 14:09

“From placemaking to placekeeping?”

How to involve citizens in the long-term management of public spaces. Public spaces are thought to positively affect the wellbeing of their users in various ways. These associated benefits are reason enough for local authorities to invest in the creation of such high quality places through place-making processes. Place-making means the creation and shaping of […]

By Maike Schmoch, on November 24th, 2017 at 12:27

Reinvent democracy with Aarhus’ “everyday activists” and habit-breaking “Givisme” culture!

I have never been welcomed by a butler in black overcoat with a top hat, especially not during a formal meeting organised by a city council. Then I was invited to step into a house, which looked like a huge magician’s enormous suitcase and where I found myself somewhere between Alice’s Wonderland and The Addams […]

By Ferenc Szigeti, on September 29th, 2016 at 16:50

TOGETHER: citizen engagement in councils across Europe

The sun shone brightly; the sky was blue. Good weather makes a difference to most towns and this was certainly the case with Braine l’Alleud, the Belgian municipality just 20 kilometres south of Brussels where the TOGETHER partnership held its 5th joint meeting at the end of March. The project is exploring new ways of […]

By URBACT, on April 3rd, 2012 at 10:22