Why citizen participation is key for policymakers
Citizen initiatives are gaining popularity, citizen assemblies are proposed as a solution to defrost polarised debate, and overall, there are more participation methods to choose from than ever before. We see that...
How to support local citizen initiatives
From London to Hong Kong, people around the world are demanding that their voices be heard by their government. Citizen initiatives are the practice in which citizens speak up to counter how their current...
Why being skeptical of democracy and government is not (always) a bad thing
Today’s political landscape is characterised by strong polarisation, a sense of unease, and a decline of trust in our governments (and democracy as a whole). Across the globe, this evolution has led to the...
Monthly Civic Tech must-reads #2
It’s October, and fall is officially here! Those rainy afternoons are perfect to settle down inside with a hot cup of tea and some food for thought. Every month, we curate a list with the most interesting reads...
4 main insights from the CrowdLaw conference
How can technology tap into the collective intelligence of the public and improve the quality of lawmaking? That’s precisely the focus of CrowdLaw, a movement, which originated from The GovLab, and consists...
How to choose the right participation method
Survey, idea gathering, 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...
Are citizens’ assemblies the future of participation?
Citizens’ assemblies are as ancient as democracy itself, yet, they have received increasing attention in recent years. Assemblies are repeatedly mentioned as a solution for the most troublesome policy debates...
Trends for youth civic engagement: online, inclusive, and local
By the time you finish reading this sentence around 30,000 tweets have been posted to Twitter and 200,000 searches have been made on Google. Technologically speaking, the world is moving faster than ever before....
5 tips from citizens for your participation project
At CitizenLab, we want to shape digital citizen participation. As cities are increasingly becoming more important than nations, it’s time to unlock that powerhouse of collective intelligence. CitizenLab’s...
CitizenLab is growing: meet our new team members!
As Civic Tech gets bigger, better and bolder, more and more people become convinced of its power. That counts for government officials and citizens, but also for professionals – and it shows. Today,...
5 key takeaways from the Nesta Government Innovation Summit
Where will governments be in 30 years? What are the main challenges civil servants will be facing in the next decade? What does the future of citizen participation look like? The Nesta Government Innovation Summit...
Monthly Civic Tech must-reads #1
Welcome democracy fanatics, outspoken citizens, dedicated political leaders, techies, and everyone in between. This is our first curated list of Monthly civic tech must-reads! This month we are exploring a wide...
Why Citizen Initiatives are vital to local democracy: 4 key success factors
Citizen initiatives are often presented as a potential antidote in the face of growing political disaffection in many parts of the world. However, all citizen initiatives differ from each other. We identified 4 key...
What is the difference between artificial and collective intelligence?
Artificial Intelligence, Collective Intelligence… these notions might sound like they come from coming from a distant future, but they are actually becoming reality. Both hold great promises, and both have...
What is the Difference between Citizen Engagement and Participation?
Over the last few years, there’s been a shift from top-down governance to more horizontally organised types of government. This new political current includes all the stakeholders of public policy projects,...
Citizen Initiatives: a new feature to increase citizens’ say in policy-making
The time of top-down governance is coming to an end. As demands for more transparency and citizen involvement are growing, citizen-led change is happening everywhere across the world. Whether it’s on social...
What’s the difference between deliberative and participatory democracy?
Deliberative and participatory democracy seem to be pretty similar. And they are, in ways: both are democratic systems that give citizens a role in governance. In both deliberative and participatory democracies,...
Civic tech tools and the future of elections
Civic tech is now everywhere. Technological innovations have invaded the democratic field, and these tools are in the process of reinventing the way local governments interact with their citizens. From...
5 political documentaries to watch this autumn
As the nights are getting crisp and summer is slowly fading, we’re spending more and more time indoors. But that doesn’t mean we have to hibernate. As it turns out, Netflix streams a wide range of...
Civic tech reads of the week #28
Hello civic tech enthusiasts, hello smart city nerds, hello citizen participation fans! Summer might be almost over, but new digital democracy projects are starting all over the world. Here’s what we’ve...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #27
For all you democracy devotees and civic tech connoisseurs, here’s our brand-new weekly reading list! This week we’re discussing city health, AI, training the leaders of today, populism, and a...
Citizen Initiatives in Europe: an introduction
Citizen initiatives are participatory tools that allow citizens to influence their local institutions by collecting signatures. They generally don’t require a lot of effort and have the potential to reach a wide...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #26
Happy Friday, dear readers! We hope you’re unwinding on a beach or tasting wine in a charming French village. But in case you’re not, we have a brand-new selection of interesting civic tech reads to...
Case Study: a tidal wave of ideas in Leuven
The Flemish city of Leuven (101,000 inhabitants) has made the leap towards citizen participation. With the slogan “Leuven, maak het mee” (a play on words that implies both “experience the...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #25
To all you city administrators, citizens, techies and democracy enthusiasts: welcome to the 25th edition of our weekly Reading List! 25 weeks ago we decided to browse the web for the most interesting civic...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #24
Another week has flown by, and as always, we celebrate the weekend with a selection of must-reads. This week we’re talking about strengthening citizens’ digital skills, AI commissions, the new wave of...
![18 civic tech podcasts you should be listening to [Updated]](https://www.citizenlab.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Screen-Shot-2019-03-14-at-13.54.58-500x282.jpg)
18 civic tech podcasts you should be listening to [Updated]
Brushing up on civic tech and digital democracy while you’re on the bus, doing groceries or even running your 5k? All hail to podcasts! We carry a goldmine of information in our pockets at all times, and a podcast...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #23
Good news! It’s Friday, and we have a new selection of must-reads hotter than this heatwave. Do happy citizens make for healthier cities? Can tech startups play a role in increasing citizens’ wellbeing?...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #22
Welcome to our weekly reading list! As always, we’ve selected the hottest reads from the realm of civic tech. This week we’re talking about smart cities, digital authoritarianism, geriatric selfies,...
CitizenLab in 8 key numbers: this was 2019 so far
We’re almost halfway through 2019, and that’s always a good excuse to look back and reflect. The last six months have been a wild ride. That’s why we thought it would be interesting to look at at...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #21
If you read this, that probably means 3 things: 1) you’re not napping on some faraway beach, but 2) the weekend is almost here and 3) we’ve got a new selection of civic tech must-reads ready for you! If...
The barriers to citizen participation: why aren’t cities doing ‘more’?
Our cities are becoming increasingly more technological in nature, but somehow, digital participation isn’t always growing accordingly. What are the main barriers to citizen participation? Recently,...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #20
Welcome to this special edition of Reads of the Week! It’s our platinum anniversary! And as always, we’re happy to feed you the best bits of civic tech we could find. Feeling nostalgic already? Head to...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #19
It’s Friday, it’s summer, and there’s a fresh Reads of the Week-list: your weekend surely got off on the right foot. But let’s not beat around the bush too much, because it’s almost as...
5 ways to convince citizens to trust and use your platform
When setting up a participation platform, the matter of trust is something that pops up quite often. We live in an era where online privacy is a vague concept and citizen’s trust in their governments seems to...
Civic Tech Reads of the Week #18
It’s Friday, and this week our must-reads from the realm of civic tech are taking us to all corners of the globe. Are you ready for a trip around the world? If you prefer to stay on familiar ground for now,...
