Local action for local trust Civic participation and dialogue in the governance process Focus on PB anders.nordh@skl.se

Our mission since 2007 » SALAR should support its members’ efforts to create new forms of citizens’ engagement and choice, and to integrate citizen dialogue into governing processes and public service developments. « During the 2007 SALAR conference, the organisation’s task to support the development of citizen dialogue was strengthened and SALAR was given the following assignment:

Networks to improve knowledge Our approach In 2007 SALAR invited local authorities, county councils and regions to participate in: Networks to improve knowledge Networks to develop and test methods Many signed up 180 (290) municipalities 21 (All) county councils/regions Learn from each others Learn and be inspired by good examples Learn from research Create new knowledge Willingness to develop SALAR inspire with examples from Sweden and other countries City or County Council decide to participate Steering group of senior-/top politicians and officials Appointed Project Manager Project group Project plan with budget Commitment to do a job at home 4 – 5 meetings/year (3 years) Assistance and support from SALAR Evaluation - Report

Citizen participation with IT A parallel project with financial support from government Scout on the world and present ideas and examples Develop IT-tools if necessary

It’s about supporting the representative democracy

Ladder of participation Co-desicion Cooperation Dialogue It is about using many different methods to gain insights into the citizens’ values, and in turn giving them a better understanding of the local authorities’ responsibilities, structure and activities. It is about strengthening democracy and increasing efficiency through systematic, well conducted citizen dialogue. The experience of local authorities that have introduced citizen dialogue is that in-house preparation is necessary before the citizens are approached. Dialogue is an interactive tool that requires preparation before, during and after its realisation. A first step might be to have a dialogue about the dialogue. You could pose a number of questions about why citizen dialogue should be introduced, and what it means to the organisation. Consultation Information

We need balance! Democracy Actor Learning Legitimacy Understanding priorities Transparency Service Operator Provide services Allocate resources Quality Control Setting standards Eventuellt fyra syften

Focus on Participatory budgeting in Sweden Four municipalities joined SALAR:s PB-network in 2008 We have had a lot of help from prof. Giovanni Alegretti at the University of Coimbra in Portugal We have been scouting a lot: Spain, Italy, Portugal, UK, Germany, US …

The City of Örebro 2009 The City of Örebro - part of investment budget for traffic and environment – invited a group of pupils from three upper secondary shool to come up with proposals and to vote for a winner. 2010 The City of Örebro – another PB with pupils Upper secondary students Investments in environment, traffic and planning

Budgetsimulator We were inspired by the simulators used by the City of Hamburg and Redbridge a borough in London. We asked some young devlopers to help us create a swedish budgetsimulator.

The City of Haninge 2010 The City of Haninge – Invited citizens to take part in the renewal of a park in the City center Upper secondary students Investments in environment, traffic and planning

The city of Uddevalla 2009 Invited all teenagers to come up with proposals for one event 2010 Invited pupils on two schools to come up with proposals to improve their school environment Invited citizens in local areas to decide on safety walks 2011 New invitation on safety walks in other local areas Upper secondary students Investments in environment, traffic and planning

Develope the school environment Cause: develope the environment in two schools Area: Herrestad school (ages 7-12) and Ramneröd school (ages 13-15) Suggestions from: ages 7-15 PB voters: ages 7-15 PB volume: 2x250 000 SEK Voting grade: 85 % Result: playing field, outdoor classroom/amphitheatre, long jump track, redecorated common room, new sitting furniture in the study hall The new playing field under construction

Safety Walk PB Cause: safety in neighbourhood Area: a) small village and b) city Suggestions from: a) school class (10 y) b) all citizens PB voters: All society PB volume: 2 x 175t SEK Voting grade: a) 6 % b) 3 % Result: a) safer schoolyard b) restored bicycle/pedistran road

The City of Avesta Invited citizens to renew the city centre A process in three steps 1 Where to start? 2 What shall we do? 3 Which proposal? Upper secondary students Investments in environment, traffic and planning

Coming up - 2011 The municipality of Orsa are planning to Consult their citizens on the main stream budget

Our budgetsimulator One of for finalists for the “Golden Link award”, a competition that rewards the most innovative Swedish e-government development in the public sector for the benefit of citizens and businesses.

Next or maybe another step… Visual budget – for planning

Summary It takes time to build trust We have to be sustained and focused We need structure and resources We can learn much from others around the world We must dare to try We have to use several methods We must be transparent

Thank you for listening! Visit www.skl.se/medborgardialog Contact: anders.nordh@skl.se lena.langlet@skl.se kjell-ake.eriksson@skl.se