2022 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

16th Edition

Phase 8 of 8

Award Ceremony at the IOPD Conference 06/12/2022 - 10/12/2022

Process phases

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Citizen Dialogues in Alto del Carmen

Official proposal

06/06/2022 12:49

The social outburst of 2019, generated in Chile important milestones that today has the country in a discussion on the outcome of the work of the constitutional convention that is preparing to present the new Constitutional text to the country, for its approval or rejection. The beginning of this work began with the signing of a peace agreement held in the former national congress by the political forces with parliamentary representation, they agreed to propose to the country the option of drafting a new constitution, which contemplates all the aspects and mechanisms for its elaboration.

In view of this, the mayors of the country stated that it was important for the people to express themselves through a Citizen Consultation, where the priorities demanded by the citizens and which are the support of the outbreak, 30 years of privileges for a few to the detriment of the majority of the country, would be exposed. The communes of the country are committed to organize in their territories this citizen consultation to determine the participation of citizens in a constituent process, leading to the drafting of a new constitution. This consultation was held on December 15, 2019.

The municipality of Alto del Carmen, aware of the need for its inhabitants to vote informed, in a Council session, agreed to hold citizen dialogues to stimulate participation in the Citizen Consultation, agreed from Congress, which also generates a diagnosis by locality for the community of the valleys, to express the main needs of their territories, this as input to prioritize in municipal management.

For the development of these dialogues, a methodology was established to encourage participation, where, in the first instance in each locality, lists of local problems are collected and representatives are appointed to take them to the meetings or citizen dialogues that were held in 5 defined locations and where representatives of the surrounding organizations converge to discuss the relevant aspects to be considered in the citizen consultation.

The participants are given a number that is then used to separate them and work in groups of approximately 10 to 13 people to discuss their local needs and demands, using a card and marker that is given to each participant, where they write the two main demands that they consider most relevant to solve in their locality, Afterwards, and to ensure the participation and use of the word of all, each one of them reads before the group their two priorities and sticks them on the flipchart provided for each group, finally a representative is chosen, who exposes before the totality of the participants what was presented in each group.

Finally, once the dialogues were held, they were systematized and a report was prepared and presented to the Honorable Municipal Council, which includes them in its work agenda.

Follow-up has been carried out when the Honorable Municipal Council meets in the different localities and reports on the status of the situations that have been raised and that the municipality has committed to resolve.

www.armatacama.cl

https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc1241.pdf