PARTICAFFÉ

We are trying to encourage municipal leaders to motivate their citizens to take a public interest approach and give them the opportunity to participate in public affairs or in solving the problems that their municipality is facing.We want to show how easy it is to strengthen the community and the relationship of citizens to the region in which they live if the public administration sees them as equal partners. The event is included in the activities of the Healthy Region and Local Agenda 21 project.

The aim of the project is to provide municipal representatives with guidance on how to start participation in their municipality. We will introduce the basic principles of citizen participation in public planning and decision-making and explain why its implementation in public life is important and what concrete benefits it can bring. The project will present examples from practice, both good and bad, because in some cases participation may not be appropriate or even possible.

PARTICaffé is an educational and training programme, and we will discuss with the participants concrete examples from their practice to find ways to engage the public. During the programme we will introduce different methods and tools, and we will also discuss common myths associated with participation. However, this is not an exhaustive lecture, so participants will try out all the techniques on the spot. There will be a total of five free modules to choose from, and we will cover something different in each one.

No one understands local problems more than local residents. Municipal leaders who go through the training programme will be able to motivate citizens to participate in the public administration of their municipality. This will convince citizens that "their opinion is important". As a result, they will be able to share their views with the municipal administration and offer possible solutions to the problems that concern them. A strong and active community is what moves our county forward.

Four meetings with municipal representatives have already taken place. The next meeting will take place on 17.10. If you are interested, you can still register here: https://bit.ly/particaffe

About project:

• 1st module: YOU'LL FIND A HELPING HAND AT THE END OF YOUR ARM. GET CITIZENS INVOLVED IN YOUR COMMUNITY.
• 2nd module: HOW TO INVOLVE CITIZENS IN THE GAME: TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMME FOR MAYORS PARTICAFFÉ
• 3rd module: A CHILD IS THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BUT LEAST EXPLICIT MEMBER OF SOCIETY - ROGER HART
• 4th module: "THE SCARCEST RESOURCE IN CITIES TODAY IS NOT MONEY, BUT COORDINATION" - ALEJANDRO ARAVENA