2022 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
16th Edition
Anxious to offer a response to the "democratic fatigue syndrome" identified by David Van Reybrouck ("Against the elections") and to bridge the growing gap between representatives and represented, the Brussels Parliament wanted at the start of the 2019- 2014 open its doors to all Brussels citizens. It has therefore, since December 2019, included the principle of deliberative commissions in its rules.
Bringing together 45 citizens drawn by lot and 15 parliamentarians, the deliberative committees are intended to be a new space for dialogue aimed at developing, together and on an equal footing, proposals for recommendations on a particular theme.
The theme addressed by each deliberative committee itself results either from a proposal from citizens (this is the “citizen suggestion” mechanism) or from a request from one or more political groups.
When the Parliament decides to set up a deliberative commission, a first draw is made of 10,000 people over 16 years old residing on the territory of the Region. A letter is sent to them inviting them to register by completing a form in which they are asked to specify gender, age, municipality of residence, language and level of training. On the basis of these answers, a second draw is carried out with the aim of obtaining a sample of 45 people representative of the population of Brussels and to which are added the 15 parliamentarians of a committee.
The deliberative commission then takes place in different phases:
- an informative phase, aimed at informing the participants both about the process of the deliberative commissions and about the theme addressed;
- a deliberation phase aimed at bringing out proposed recommendations;
- a recommendation phase, aimed at improving the proposed recommendations and adopting these recommendations by all the participants;
- a work presentation phase.
The parliamentarians then monitor the follow-up of the recommendations adopted and report, after 6 to 9 months, on the progress of this follow-up.
This follow-up is obviously very important: it makes it possible to strengthen the support of the population for the process.
In addition, in order to guarantee the support of all citizens, care is taken to include and inform the widest possible public.
Inclusion is therefore the leitmotif of the process; this is ensured at all stages, from the drawing of lots to the follow-up.
As for information, it is done, on the one hand at key moments through traditional means of communication, on the other hand through the democratie.brussels platform, dedicated to citizen participation in the Brussels Parliament. The challenge is for all Brussels residents to use this tool.
Relatively recent, the deliberative commissions are obviously likely to evolve. An evaluation is therefore made, constantly (at the end of each experience but also, during the same experience, at the end of each phase) and globally (with support committee, governance committee, citizens drawn by lot, parliamentarians, etc.).
More information:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkONxPhlKoE
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