1. How can we involve the public in regional and local projects?
5th European Summit of Regions and cities
Copenhagen, March 22, 2012
Prof. Dr. Simon Guentner
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences

2. variations of democracy
Direct democracy
Participative democracy
Representative democracy
Town meeting/Forum
Citizen panel
Participatory budgeting
Planning for Real
Consensus conference
Charrette
Future Search Conference
World Café
...

3. The Micropolitics of Participation
Access and recruitment
Logistics, timing, duration
Style of communication, language
Function, power of body/exercise

4. The Democracy Cube
Source: Fung 2005

5. Participative governance – hopes and traps
Voice of citizens leads to...
Better policies
broader ownership
Enhanced legitimation of decisions
Implementation often flawed by...
Efficiency Trap
Misrepresentation of interests
Oversimplification of debate and exclusion of minority interests
Domination of ‚common interest‘ and economic arguments

6. Issues to consider... Realistic expectations
Milieu/age/...specific communication and tools
Transparent and strong links to arenas/actors of representative democracy
Emphasise the democratic value of participation over instrumental issues
Take your time!

7. Thank you for your attention!
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