• ActiveCitizens

    Lead Partner : Agen - France
    • Hradec Kralove - Czech Republic
    • Dinslaken - Germany
    • Saint-Quentin - France
    • Bistrița - Romania
    • Cento - Italy
    • Santa Maria da Feira - Portugal
    • Tartu Vald - Estonia

     

    City of Agen (FR)

    CONTACT US

    ActiveCitizens - The different levels of citizen participation

    Timeline

    • Kick-off Active Citizens Network, Study Visits Adventure & Baseline Study
    • Validation of Phase 2, Communication Plan, Phase 2 Journey & Integrated Action Plan Roadmap
    • Analyse of problems, Visions, First series of experiments (Small Scale Actions), Mid Term Reflection, State of Action Report & Integrated Action Plan Draft
    • Reprogramming Network, Last rounds of Small Scale Actions, Final Integrated Action Plan, dissemination & Closure of the Active Citizens Project

    Final products

    Integrated Action Plans

    Listen and co-create with citizens - Integrated Action Plan Santa Maria da Feira
    Listen and co-create with citizens

    Santa Maria da Feira hosts multiple inspiring practices of citizen participation but also multi-stakeholder collaboration. Read more here !

     

    Santa Maria da Feira - Portugal
    Integrated Action Plan Hradec Kralove

    Read more here ! 

    Hradec Kralove - Czech Republic
    NEW PERSPECTIVES OF PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY IN URBAN POLICY

    Read more here !

    COMUNE DI CENTO - ITALY
    GIVING VOICE (AND POWER) TO CITIZENS IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE

    Read more here !

    Agen - France
    Bistriţa Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Bistrita - Romania
    Saint-Quentin Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Saint-Quentin, France
    CO-CREATING PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY WITH CITIZENS

    Read more here 

    DINSLAKEN - GERMANY
    FASTER ALONE, FURTHER TOGETHER – TARTU PARISH FOR AND WITH CITIZENS

    Read more here 

    TARTU VARD - ESTONIA

    Summary

    Useful links

    Digital Free Version of the Game  Citizen participation? Hell No !!  Just follow the link

    Video presentation of Active Citizens here

    First Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Improvement works on Chopin Square

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Choice of Voluntary Drop off Points

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Market of ideas

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Videomaton developement works on Place Fallieres

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Citizenship Project with High School

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Reduilding a Schoolyard with Pupil's ideas

    Small Scale Action in Agen - Video : Videomaton In Palissy High School

    Last Transnational Meeting in Lead Partner City of Agen - Video : Lead Partner and Lead Expert interviews

    The aim of ActiveCitizens is to rethink the place of the citizen in the local governance by finding a balance between representative democracy and participatory democracy. Led by the City of Agen (France), this Action Planning Network of European small and medium-sized cities, with the same expectations and the similar challenges, will take into account, to do this, new digital tools while integrating the issue of citizens away or not comfortable with digital tools.

    Citizen's participation in small and medium EU cities
    Ref nid
    13495
  • DigiPlace

    Summary

    LEAD PARTNER : Messina - Italy
    • Roquetas de Mar - Spain
    • Oulu - Finland
    • Saint-Quentin - France
    • Ventspils - Latvia
    • Portalegre - Portugal
    • Botoşani - Romania
    • Trikala - Greece

    Timeline

    Integrated Action Plans

    IAP Municipality of Messina

    Read more here !

    Messina - Italy
    IAP Oulo

    Read more here!

    Oulu - Finland
    Ventspils Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Ventspils - Latvia
    Saint-Quentin Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Saint-Quentin, France
    PORTALEGRE Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    PORTALEGRE - PORTUGAL
    ReStart mAI City

    Read more here !

    Trikala - Greece
    BOTOSANI - The Smart City to be

    Read more here !

    Botosani - Romania

    Digi Place is an Action Planning Network that aims to set up an acceleration mechanism to enable cities to catch up the digitalisation opportunities in hard & soft infrastructure. Remove all the obstacles encountered by mid-sized cities in their digital journey: lack of strategic & global vision lack of technical and engineering capacities difficulties in incorporating the digital innovation. Municipalities need to guaranty the uptake of digital innovation by the local stakeholders: citizen and potential entrepreneurs.

    Digital innovation for cities
    Ref nid
    13504
  • iPlace

    Summary

    LEAD PARTNER : Amarante - Portugal
    • Gabrovo - Bulgaria
    • Medina del Campo - Spain
    • Saldus - Latvia
    • Heerlen - Netherlands
    • Kočevje - Slovenia
    • Balbriggan - Ireland
    • Grosseto - Italy
    • Pärnu - Estonia
    • Pori - Finland

    Integrated Action Plans

    Gabravo Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Gabravo - Bulgaria
    Amarante Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Amarante - Portugal
    "The time is now" Pori Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Pori - Finland
    Pärnu Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Pärnu - Estonia
    Saldus Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Saldus - Latvia
    Kočevje Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Kočevje - Slovenia
    Medina Del Campo Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Medina Del Campo - Spain
    Heerlen Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Heerlen - Netherlands
    Grosseto Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Grosseto - Italy
    Balbriggan Integrated Action Plan

    Read more here !

    Balbriggan - Ireland

    iPlace is a journey where the partner cities are fellow travellers who are always seeking to find niches appropriate for their cities, while deepening their understanding of the nuances that make their cities special, with the determination to use the knowledge they gained for nesting new ideas that will sprout more sustainable local economic development.

    Finding our niches for sustainable local economic development
    Ref nid
    13479
  • The profile of the city

    Spain
    Terrassa

    Measuring quality of life and sustainability of medium-sized cities

    Joan Chicón
    Head of Department for European and International Affairs and City Marketing
    Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedIn
    215 121

    Summary

    A network of medium-sized cities in Catalonia (ES) has been working since 1988 on a collaborative, integrated and continuous Research and Development programme to get indicators to measure Quality of Life and Sustainability (QofL&S) at the local scale. This is useful for benchmarking and positioning, and for decision-making processes. The network developed a common methodology to select and discuss indicators, and manage how to use them in decision-making processes related to indicators from public policies management. The participants believe that the creation of a common resources system is useful for every agent involved in urban development processes, helping to value and measure the key elements influencing the quality of life in medium-sized cities. The Profile of the City contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the definition of public policies designed to improve the quality of life of medium-sized cities.

    The solutions offered by the good practice

    The project developed a methodological tool, which we will call tableau de bord, that will ease and inform policy decision-making, as well as offering an instrument to link and commit citizens to the assessment of the QofL&S in their own environments. The project will unfold in several work packages that will involve different timing and partners. The action plan is divided in two different work lines: the first line of action, the core activity of the project refers to the measurement of the QofL&S, as defined, of European medium-sized cities based on the construction of a set of indicators relevant to policy making. The other line of action includes the complementary activities that refer to the reinforcement of the skills needed for managing quality of life and sustainability, and all the communication and diffusion activities well beyond the network. Work packages included in the core action line are the following: • Definition (permanent) of the tableau de bord; • Establishment of a socio-economic observatory in each locality; • Information collection; • Analysis of the information; • Review of the cities profiles and review of the decision supporting tool; • And communication of the profiles (currently by a yearly report and a blog posted on its web site: http://www.perfilciutat.net). The tool will be built on the conceptual development of a methodology to tackle issues related to QofL&S from a local point of view and focusing on its usefulness for city planning.

    Building on the sustainable and integrated approach

    The practice is directly related to urban policy development, focusing on the core of economic and social matters. Measuring QofL is a way to obtain the very essential base to start an evaluation of those policies, as in fact these measures (the indicators) have been used for policy-makers, even in a confrontation with opinions or perceptions of citizens, especially during the deepest moments of crisis. The actions of The Profile of the City have as their most visible result the construction of models of quantifiable profiles of the quality of life of a city, based on measures or calculations from official statistics and the local government’s management data (and also now in databases of private companies, on which the network is currently working, connected with smart-city processes and impact analyses of public policies).

    Based on a participatory approach

    The network is providing an annual report about the quality of life indicators, through which indicators city partners are compared, also thinking about the historical series to not lose evolutive dimension, divided into eight chapters (demography, labour market, housing, economic and business activity, enterprises fabric, social cohesion and sustainability, and finally a special part on synthetic diagrams of local information, related to evolution benchmarking). Also, an open blog is provided to express and debate several contributions on experiences on data use and new statistics and methodologies, and also for expressing opinions on the results of public policies, as a way of evaluation of those policies. The net also organises training sessions or conferences and meetings in order to communicate, argue and discuss the results of its reports. All the activities of this network are published through its web site (www.perfilciutat.net). The report is reviewed through deep working sessions, very participative, taking into account the significance and pertinence of indicators, their very lateness and also their usability. Members are also committed to taking part in the composition and writing of the final report and also about contributions to the experiences blog.

    What difference has it made?

    Profile of the City aims at improving the knowledge on structural changes in an urban environment and measures the impacts of those transformations on the QofL. It will do so by producing a conceptual and methodological tool to promote a framework of sustainable development in medium-sized cities, assess the QofL and inform urban policy decision-making. Special attention will be given to overcoming the sectoral approach to urban policy development and ensuring stakeholders participation in the definition of this decision-supporting tool. The proposal seeks a holistic view of living conditions and a multidimensional definition of sustainability and QofL. That is why this project intends to develop a common place where local authorities, economic agents, interest groups and citizens can share their notions of quality of life and sustainability and improve their measurement through agreement, sharing and the process-line “reflection/initiative/action”. The main difference is focusing on the link between the evolution of social or territorial indicators and the evolution of management ones, which leads decision-makers to ask some critical questions about the continuity and pertinence of several public programmes. The annual report is a basis for a constructive discussion on local development policies and also the treatment of sustainability matters, especially related to urban environment and the contribution on heat islands and on climate change process.

    Why should other European cities use it?

    The initiative can be useful for other cities, as we have already said (see sections 1 and 2). But for a double motivation: (1) To implement progress in territorial cooperation (technically, horizontally) of cities and wider territories, on their own competencies and responsibilities, and (2) The permanent evaluation of implementation and impulse of public policies for each city from its own indicators and also in a comparative way with other cities, to get enough reference to know what position was gotten. It is from a temporary and comparative serial of quantitative indicators. In fact, this practice was shared with other partners (local authorities) in Europe in several methodological meetings. Also is related with statistic aims of Eurostat and Eurocities in actions providing indicators for territories/administrations smaller than states or regions, in a similar way than that done by EU Urban Audit for bigger (capital) cities. It was extremely interesting to compare methodologies and to learn about other experiences developed by other possible partners in other countries. Ours is rather a learning organisation.

    Is a transfer practice
    0
    Ref nid
    9494