IOPD Newsletter : February 2018

The IOPD has defended the democratic dimension of local governance at the 9th World Urban Forum

The ninth session of the World Urban Forum took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 7 to 13, 2018. It was the first meeting after the approval in Quito of the New Urban Agenda, and the implementation of the NUA was in the center of the discussion. More than 22,000 participants from 165 countries, including more than 100 ministers or vice ministers, discussed concrete steps in the construction of "Cities for all."

The IOPD was represented through its Secretariat and various members of the network with the aim of introducing the participatory perspective in the global agendas. We also actively collaborate in the campaign of the Global Taskforce and UCLG "Listen2Cities" that defends the role of local and regional governments as guardians of the Habitat 3 legacy and as those responsible for implementing the New Urban Agenda.

Learn more about the activities organized by the IOPD during the WUF 9

Mayor Bill de Blasio Launches Participatory Budgeting in All NYC High Schools

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in his State of the City address on February 13th that he is launching participatory budgeting (PB) in all of the city's public high schools The City will give every high school $2,000 for students to allocate, to give young people a powerful new opportunity to learn and practice democracy, and to inspire lifelong civic participation.

More information

CASE STUDIES

Dundee (Scotland, UK) ⇾ Dundee Decides: Dundee Decides has £1.2 million to spend across the 8 wards in the city, decided by an online vote.

Nanterre (France) ⇾ The permanent Agora: The permanent Agora project has for priority the inclusion of all the inhabitants and users of the city (100,000 jobs and 30,000 students), around a perennial consultation platform.

Mexico City (Mexico) ⇾ “City and Word”: Ciudad y Palabra works under the premise that citizens get involved in the care and maintenance of their environment by selecting the visual content with which the space is improved, since it represents their own ideals, values, emotions and links with that space. In the second phase the local government will collaborate with more civil associations and artists to encourage citizen participation.

Find all the case studies on our website

AGENDA

Innovations in Participatory Democracy Conference: 8-10th March 2018 in Phoenix, Arizona

Improving democracy through dialogue and participation: 17-18th May 2018 in Stockholm, Sweden

CEMR Conference: equality, diversity and inclusion: 11-13th June Bilbao

Check more events on our website

PUBLICATIONS

Yearbook of Local Elections in 2017: This publication is a compilation of the elections that were held in 2017 to elect mayors, councilors and other elected officials of local governments.

Participatory Budgeting in Paris: Act, Reflect, Grow: Publication of the Paris Participatory Budgeting by Yves Cabanes

A Guide to Participatory Budgeting in Schools: A project by the Participatory Budgeting Project

Democracy at Dusk? V-Dem Annual Report 2017

Public Participation and Democratic Innovations: Assessing Democratic Institutions and Processes for Deepening and Increased Public Participation in Political Decision-Making by Jan-Hendrik Kamlage and Patrizia Nanz

See more publications on our website

International Observatory on Participatory Democracy
c. Avinyó 15
08002 Barcelona
oidp@bcn.cat