COVID-19: We’re here to help
Local governments are at the forefront of the COVID-19 crisis. Public administrations, local health services and first responders are being put under incredible strain and their efforts are an essential part in...
Promoting community engagement: 4 takeaways
When setting up a community engagement project, a strong communication strategy is the most important tool in your toolbox. How do you describe your project’s purpose? How do you reach your target audience? And how...
Meet CitizenLab’s newest members!
As the shift to the online realm becomes more and more pressing in all areas of life, digital deliberation is in the lift as well. As strengthening our democracies and stimulating the dialogue between governments...
Monthly Civic Tech Must-reads #8
Crises often lead to reflection: should we be doing things differently? What changes can improve our democracies? The ongoing pandemic has shaken things up and forced democracies worldwide to function differently....
How public engagement can help to tackle climate change
Over the last few years, the UK has made considerable efforts to tackle climate change. In 2019, the government enshrined its commitment to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 into national legislation. By...
3 Tips to Mix Online and Offline Community Engagement
Are you a firm believer in the offline old-school? Or do you choose the digital route whenever you can? Good news: when it comes to community engagement, you don’t have to pick one. In fact, a combination of...
Answers to the FAQs of digital consultation
This article is an excerpt of our free guide about the 10 FAQs on digital consultation. We share answers to common based on case studies and by sharing insights from civil servants. For a more detailed overview of...
How to facilitate digital deliberation
The world has received a crash course in digital interaction and tools over the last couple of months. With social distancing as a catalyst for digital engagement, Civic Tech needs to invest in facilitating digital...
Monthly Civic Tech Must-reads #7
As the pandemic evolves, we’re collectively breathing a careful sigh of relief. In some parts of the world, life as we know it is slowly but surely restarting. The last few months—and the ones to...
‘Slacktivism’: Legitimate Action or Just Lazy Liking?
It sounds like a contradictio in terminis, like ‘sound of silence’ or ‘sensible Twitter debate’. But ‘slacktivism’, a contraction of ‘activism’ and uh, ‘slacking’, has become a widespread phenomenon that urges...
“The power of citizen initiatives is that they work at all levels.” – an interview with Elisa Lironi
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. Elisa Lironi is the Senior Manager European Democracy, working...
Say hello to CitizenLab’s new team members!
Citizen participation continues to gain momentum across the globe. So naturally, our team grows accordingly. In the last few weeks, this enthusiastic bunch of young professionals and Civic Tech specialists joined...
The online town hall meeting: democratic innovation after the coronavirus
April 22, 2020. Belgium is entering its 34th day of lockdown (or is it 36th? Honestly, we’ve lost count). The CitizenLab team has now been working remotely for more than a month. We all watched bewildered as...
Monthly Civic Tech must-reads #6
These are unprecedented times. The high-speed train of modern life has come to a grinding halt, and we’re all trying to grapple with this new reality. COVID-19 has drastically changed the way we work and...
What’s the difference between deliberation and participation?
Deliberation and participation may seem like similar concepts. At their core, they kind of are: both deliberative and participatory democracies are systems that include citizens in governance. In both deliberative...
Pioneers #1: Audrey Tang, Taiwan’s Digital Minister
Born in 1981 in Taiwan, Audrey Tang has made waves as a software programmer and civic hacker-turned-Digital Minister. She’s young, transgender, a self-proclaimed anarchist, and often described as one of the...
“It’ll take more than critical thinking, it’ll take civic-thinking.” – an interview with David Lemayian
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. David Lemayian is the Chief Technology Officer of Code for...
CitizenLab launches its global partnership programme
We have worked with +125 governments across 11 countries to launch digital citizen participation. Now, we’re looking for reliable partners to join our forces, and shape local democracies for the digital era...
Case Study: Citizen Proposals in Linz
Linz (204,846 inhabitants), Austria’s third-biggest city, is known for its baroque architecture, its museums, its centre for electronic arts… and its actions in digital democracy. In 2019, the city launched a new...
“21st century democracy must reflect the society of its time.” – an interview with Paula Forteza
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. Paula Forteza is a member of French parliament,...
Citizen participation in Belgium: flawed or flourishing?
Almost exactly 3 years ago, we published this article: “Belgium has a problem with citizen participation”. A bold title statement — and that was only the beginning. The article proceeded to unveil some...
How to choose the right participation method
Survey, idea collection, participatory budget… when launching a citizen participation project, there are many options to choose from. A survey will yield different answers and reach different audiences than a...
“Positive or negative, emotions are an essential part of politics.” – an interview with Stephen Boucher
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. Stephen Boucher is the founder of Dreamocracy, a think-and-do...
What is the difference between Old and New Power?
This blog post is inspired by the article “Understanding New Power” by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms, which is an extract from their book New Power. Power is shifting; many processes in our society are...
“Humanise the technologist, technologise the humanist.” – an interview with Adriana Groh
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. Adriana Groh is the director of the Prototype Fund, a...
Monthly Civic Tech must-reads #5
Every month, we curate a list of interesting articles, reports and opinion pieces from the realm of Civic Tech, GovTech, and digital democracy. And this month is no different! In this edition, we’re exploring...
How citizen participation helps to rebuild trust within communities
In the aftermath of a polarising debate, public servants are expected to put the pieces of the puzzle back together. But how do you bridge this divide and inspire your community to move forward together? The answer...
“Governments have no other option than involving citizens.” – an interview with Tiago C. Peixoto
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. Tiago C. Peixoto is a Senior Public Sector Specialist at...
“There’s a will to re-establish a sense of control.” – an interview with Daniel Korski
This interview is part of a series of 12 expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. You can read the full white paper with interviews here. CitizenLab – “How did you get into GovTech?” Daniel...
The future of Digital Democracy
Who could have imagined, just ten years ago, what 2020 would look like? Over the past ten years, our modern democracies have undergone a radical change. We have seen technology transform things for better, and for...
“What’s changed isn’t the technology – it’s the government listening.” – an interview with Marci Harris
This interview is part of a series of expert interviews on the future of digital democracy. The entire whitepaper, including 12 interviews, can be viewed here. Marci Harris is the CEO and co-founder of PopVox, a...
Is this a golden age for localism?
At the Nesta Government Innovation Summit last September, Geoff Mulgan, chief executive at Nesta, made a surprising declaration. In the midst of an unprecedented political crisis, he announced “a golden age for...
Our insights from Innovation in Local Democracy
We were present at the “Innovation in Local democracy” event in Manchester organized by the UK Government Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and...
A year in (p)review
2019 was a big year for CitizenLab. Four years after it was founded, our digital democracy platform is now actively being used by 200.000 citizens in 75 different cities. And yet, it still feels like it’s only day...
Monthly Civic Tech must-reads #4
The holidays are behind us, and we’ve almost made it through all 65 days of January. Time to kick off the decade with a breath of fresh air and a new list of mind-boggling civic tech reads. How does the...
Case Study: all eyes on the climate in Grand Paris Sud
Grand Paris Sud (346.826 inhabitants), an intercommunal structure south of Paris, decided to pull up its sleeves and work towards progress. In the spirit of democracy, they chose to seek the opinions of those who...
