Digitalisation & Participation.
Putting people at the centre of the digital transition
The 8th Danube Participation Day takes place back to back with the 1oth EUSDR Annual Forum on 25th and 26th of October 2021. This year, the Danube Participation Day is dedicated to “Participation & Digitalisation”. The conference will address participatory decision-making and co-design of public services in view of digitalisation and eGovernment.
Programme
Day 1 | Monday, 25 October 2021 (Time zone: CET)
9:30 – 10.00 Accessing the platform
10.00 – 10.30 Welcome & Opening Session
Michal Blaško | Presidency EU Danube Strategy, Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization
Slawomir Tokarski | European Commission, DG REGIO
Claudia Singer | EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna
Stefan August Lütgenau | Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe
10.30 – 10.45 Introduction Thematic Panels
10.45 – 11.00 Coffee Break
11.00 – 11.30 Parallel Panels
Open Government & Transparency
▪ How to create a digital capital that puts people first? - Klemens Himpele, City of Vienna
▪ Lessons learnt – fingers burnt: What can we learn on digital rural areas from the Smart Village project? - Peter Niederer, Swiss Center for Mountain Regions/SmartVillage
Moderator: Milan Andrejkovič, DataLab
Co-designing policies
▪ Public Management revisited – Creating services for people with people - Tina Jukič, University of Ljubljana/COGOV
▪ Co-creating a city: Lessons learnt from Smart City Budapest - Gábor Kerpel-Fronius, City of Budapest
▪ Co-designing public spending - Daniel Klimovský, Comenius University Bratislava
Moderator: Claudia Singer, EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna
11.30 – 12.30 Lunch Break
12.30 – 13.00 Parallel Panels
Trust in (e)Government & (e)Participation
▪ Facilitating trust through meaningful citizens engagement - Serge Novaretti, European Commission, DG CNECT
▪ eParticipation in rural areas - Rositsa Sredkova, Association Development Initiative - Kardzhali Decides
▪ How can public administrations be transformed into open, innovative, and collaborative governments? - Peter Triantafillou, Roskilde University/TROPICO
Moderator: Milan Andrejkovič, DataLab
Accessibility & Digital Skills
▪ How digitalisation improves access to social services and care - Katja Vonhoff, Diakonie Baden-Württemberg/D-CARE Lab
▪ MELIA Observatory - Media & digital literacy for sustainable democracies - Erika Ursic/Matevz Tomsic, FUDS/MELIA Observatory
▪ Capacity building for eParticipation - Iva Taralezhkova, Citizens Participation Forum Bulgaria
Moderator: Claudia Singer, EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna
13.00 – 13.15 Introduction World Café
13.15 – 13.40 World Café Session I. - Parallel Sessions
Trust in (e)Government & (e)Participation
▪ Moderator: Milan Andrejkovič, DataLab
▪ Tech. assistant: Vanesa Lux, Foster Europe Foundation
Accessibility & Digital Skills
▪ Moderator: Stefan August Lütgenau, Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe
Open Government & Transparency
▪ Moderator: Thomas Prorok, Centre for Public Administration Research
▪ Tech. assistant: Laura Szitar, Foster Europe Foundation
Co-designing policies
Moderator: Claudia Singer, EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna
13.40 – 13.50 Coffee Break
13.50 – 14.15 World Café Session II. - Parallel Sessions
Trust in (e)Government & (e)Participation
▪ Moderator: Milan Andrejkovič, DataLab
▪ Tech. assistant: Vanesa Lux, Foster Europe Foundation
Accessibility & Digital Skills
▪ Moderator: Stefan August Lütgenau, Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe
Open Government & Transparency
▪ Moderator: Thomas Prorok, Centre for Public Administration Research
▪ Tech. assistant: Laura Szitar, Foster Europe Foundation
Co-designing policies
Moderator: Claudia Singer, EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna
14.15 – 14.45 Wrap-up | Closing Session
Stefan August Lütgenau | Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe
Day 2 | Tuesday, 26 October 2021 (Time zone: CET)
9:30 – 10.00 Accessing the platform
10.00 - 10.10 Welcome and Opening Session
Claudia Singer | EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna, Austria
Stefan August Lütgenau | Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe, Austria
10.10 – 10.30 Introduction & Interactive Reflection on Aspects of Participation & Digitalisation
Claudia Singer | EUSDR Priority Area Coordination 10/City of Vienna, Austria
10.30 – 11.00 Panel: A macro-regional vision on digitalisation that puts people at the centre
Tomáš Jucha, Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization, Slovak Republic
Andreea Pena, Danube Strategy Point (DSP), Romania
Iva Taralezhkova, Citizens Participation Forum, Bulgaria
11.00 – 11.30 Discussion with the audience
Reflecting & prioritising the results from the world café discussion
What can macro-regional networks contribute to improve participation and digitalisation in the Danube Region?
If you could send one message to the board of NCs regarding digitalisation & participation, what would it be?
11.30 – 12.30 Closing Session
Stefan August Lütgenau | Danube Civil Society Forum/Foster Europe, Austria
Igor Studennikov, Centre for Regional Studies, Ukraine
Agenda
You can download the agenda here
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Background
In June 2020, the European Council endorsed the Council Conclusions on “Shaping Europe’s Digital Future” that recognised the contribution of digitalisation to economic cohesion, climate neutrality, and social inclusion. In doing so, the EU member states supported a vision of a “European society powered by digital solutions that are strongly rooted in common values, and that enrich the lives of all of us”1. Furthermore, the European Union is already cooperating for a digital future with the accession countries through the Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans and the EU Neighbourhood countries within the framework of the Association Agreements.
In the revised Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, the European Commission and the partner countries of the Danube Region marked digitalisation as cross-sectoral priority. This also impacts the capability to ensure meaningful eParticipation in a more digital environment of decision making.
Against the background of the high expectations of digitalisation as booster for a sustainable, innovative and prosperous future, this year’s Danube Participation Day aims at exploring the following questions:
– What are the preconditions for a citizens-centred digitalisation and why does it matter?
– How do procedures of digital decision-making and digital service provision need to look like in order to serve people’s needs?
– Is there a macro-regional eParticipation and how can the Strategy contribute to raise eParticipation in the region?
– Which skills do civil society and public authorities need to engage in a citizens-centred digital transition?
The Danube Participation Day will provide the opportunity to discuss digital transformation on governance and participation in the Danube Region: What are the potentials and challenges of the digital transition? How do we need to re-design public services? What can we learn from current eGovernance initiatives and smart concepts? How can deliberative processes and meaningful participation of civil society look like in a digital arena? What could be the role of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region support participation in digital decision-making procedures?
1 European Commission (2020): Shaping Europe’s Digital Future, Manuscript, February 2020.