Porto Alegre, March 2012.

From June 11th to 13th, the 12th International Observatory on Participatory Democracy Conference will be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, organized by Porto Alegre's City Council and the Observatory on Participatory Democracy. Under the theme "Democracy in the City and Major Urban Transformations", the Conference's objective is to reflect on the intense transformations the cities have gone through as well as the necessary guarantee of citizen participation in this construction process. The conference will count on lectures, debates, experiences exchange, studies and workshops.

Observatory on Participatory Democracy – OIDP – was created in November 2001, during the Conference of Barcelona (Spain), as an outcome of a B-project, by network number 3 – Democracy in the City, within the framework of the European Commission's URB-AL program, coordinated by the city of Barcelona. It focuses on creating an open space for debate and experiences interchange of participatory democracy on a local scale. Since 2006 the IOPD has coordinated with United Cities and Local Governments and today it contributes to the production of innovative knowledge as to help local governments in the field of participatory democracy. The office of OIDP's Technical Secretariat has been held by Barcelona City Council, since the network was created, due to its role as a well-known world reference in the interchange of experiences on participatory democracy, relying on the cooperation between local governments in the world. Thus, OIDP is a center for production of knowledge and the exchange of experiences that assumes the challenge of serving as a reflection in matters of participatory democracy at a worldwide level, in order to innovate and to recommend specific policies to public administrations, preferably local, throughout the world and to make the exchange of experiences its main working base.

Porto Alegre has become a reference when it comes to participatory democracy, especially due to its experience with the Participatory Budget (OP). According to the UN, the OP is one of the 40 best practices in urban public management in the world. Moreover, the city counts on a vast wage of social participation forums, among which are: Council for Public Policies, Planning Forums, Networks for Children and Youth Protection, Safety and Human Rights Forums, Networks for Local Solidarity Governance and the City Congress. In this same context, the city has hosted the World Social Forum and the World Conference on City Development – environments for reflection, debate and experiences presentation on the theme of cities development, including democracy innovation and social transformation initiatives. Also, Porto Alegre City Council, as an OIDP founding member, has worked actively in it, through the Coordination Committee, presence in all Conferences, participation in the Spatial Segregation and Territory in major Urban Centers work group.

OIDP XII Conference will count on an opening lecture, panels, presentation of scientific works and presentation of experiences. The Conference's central theme unfolds into four axes: (1) urban planning and participation; (2) the impact of sport mega-events on the coalition of social and political forces and cities' urban and metropolitan governance; (3) Economic development, territorial planning and sustainability; (4) Innovation, creativity and new technologies. Besides the main theme, the Conference will count on debates on Participatory Budget, new technologies and participation, and Local Observatories on Participatory Democracy.

The period for applications of work presentations will begin on March 15th, with the Conference site (www.oidp2012.com.br) launching, and ends on April 27th.

In the face of all that has been exposed, the city of Alegre and the OIDP Executive Secretariat invite all cities, public managers, social movements, people engaged on urban innovation, academics and researchers, to participate in the XII Annual Conference of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy. To do so, our team of International Relations is available through the email: OIDP2012@smgl.prefpoa.com.br

6th IOPD Distinction "Best Practice in Citizens' Participation"candidacies submission

The International Observatory for Participatory Democracy (IOPD) encourages you to present a candidacy application for the 6th Edition of the "Best Practice in Citizens' Participation" Distinction given for initiatives developed at the local level.   The IOPD Distinction for Best Practice in Citizen Participation has been created to recognize those innovative experiences and ideas in the area of participative democracy that promote participation and involvement of citizens in processes of elaborating and implementing public policies.

  The invitation is open to all local governments, municipal entities and extra-municipal entities that are members of the IOPD and have promoted a citizen participation initiative within the last four years that is still in effect at the time of the candidacy application.  

The award will be presented next 11th June 2012 in Porto Alegre (Brasil) within the framework of the XII IOPD Conference.

The presentation period for applications will began on January 15th and ends on February 15th, 2012. 

The award basis and the submit form are already available in this website section.