2022 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
16th Edition
Chambéry : Etats Généraux de la Démocratie Locale (EGDL) - Chambéry: General States of Local Democracy (EGDL)
The City of Chambéry launched the General States of Local Democracy (EGDL) in early 2021, an ambitious approach rolled out gradually throughout the year in order to breathe new life into civic engagement. The objective was to establish a dialogue between the various stakeholders (elected officials, community agents, citizens and associations) to rebuild local democracy together.
A first step took place from January to April 2021 in the form of a collaborative investigation concluded with a highlight on April 28, bringing together 115 people by videoconference (Covid period). Concretely, about sixty "scouts" (from different stakeholders) went to meet about a hundred people involved in the democratic life of Chambéry. These crossings of points of view around 7 existing participatory systems have made it possible to bring out five observations:
- “Real consultation, everyone wants it, no one does it”
- "It's always the same people who participate in public meetings"
- "Sometimes the distance is so great that we can't understand each other"
- "In local democracy, everyone has trouble finding their place"
- "And in the end we all say to ourselves: 'All that for that? »
The second stage from April to July 2021 made it possible to experiment and test with Chambéry residents the solutions devised to improve exchanges and cooperation between the City, its partners and its inhabitants and to respond to five challenges (in response to the 5 findings ):
- Agree on the purpose of the process
- Go to those who express themselves the least
- Identify the right intermediaries to better understand each other
- Understand the constraints and room for maneuver of each
- Show what the consultations produce in the end
On July 20, workshops-meetings took place in the different districts of the city in order to exchange and experiment using interactive tools (forum theater, card game, frescoes, tricycle, urban walks, etc.) , with as many inhabitants as possible.
Finally, a third and final stage took place from September to December 2021. At the end of the entire experimentation phase came the time for implementation, in particular through:
- The refoundation of the city's 7 Citizen Neighborhood Councils.
- The co-construction and adoption of 5 common commitments for a renewed local democracy around outreach to remote audiences, transparency, confrontation of ideas, experimentation and the importance of restitution.
- The launch of the POP label (Projects Open to the Public) to identify participatory projects carried out by the City (nature week in the city, youth forum, cultural exploration, etc.).
- The City's adherence to the Territoire d'Engagement program, proposed by the ANCT, to meet the needs for training, support or development of the governance of the community identified during the EGDL to better take into account the citizens in the construction of public policies
A final highlight, on December 4 at the Hôtel de Ville, enabled Chambéry residents to discover an exhibition retracing the entire process and to contribute concretely by participating in 6 participatory workshops on various themes.
All that remains now is to bring these commitments to life on a daily basis with all the players in the Chambéry region!
More information:
https://participons.chambery.fr/processes/etats-generaux-democratie-locale-chambery
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