2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
17th Edition
In order to bring citizens closer to political decision-makers, the Lisbon Citizens' Council (CCL) was created, representative of the Lisbon population, as an initiative for the participation of this population in decision-making on the policies to be implemented in the city.
Through a space for debate in working sessions, the citizens of Lisbon chosen at random by lottery, participated in the co-construction of proposals and presented them to the Lisbon City Council, through its President.
Two editions of the Citizens' Council took place in Lisbon, at City Hall's noble hall: the first in May 2022, and the second on March 25th and April 1st 2023.
Chosen by the CML (Lisboa Municipality) executive, the topics of debate focused on environmental issues, how to deal with climate change, and how to make the city more accessible by applying the development of the 15-minute city model.
In two full days of work, both editions were structured by a process of consultation and co-decision, with citizens being invited to identify and list problems and solutions, to rank what they considered most relevant, necessary, urgent and/or appropriate to implement.
Citizens were divided by groups into sub-themes, according to the main theme:
For the first edition, 7 groups of participants were constituted, named after the 7 hills of Lisbon, they worked on the theme, resulting in proposals in 7 areas: Housing; Consumption and Behavioral Change; Relationship between Lisbon City Council and the citizens; Transport and Mobility; Public Space, Environmental Education and Energy Efficiency.
In the second edition, 5 groups of participants were created and debated the theme in 5 areas: Mobility; Education; Health; Commerce and Services; Leisure.
This process was mediated by a group of independent facilitators who streamlined the sessions, aiming to achieve shared results, fostering the ability to welcome different points of view, in a positive and productive environment.
In the two editions, citizens came up with a set of proposals for action (7+15). Through representatives of this set of citizens, elected during the respective Councils, two Ambassadors from each working group accompany the post CCL sessions. In partnership with the Organic Units of the Municipality, the political decision-makers are committed to implementing the proposals that meet the citizens' wishes.
Future Work:
- Promote the creation of an event in the Municipality of Lisbon to publicize the CCL project with the participation of other municipalities in the Lisbon metropolitan area;
- Organize an annual event (road map) that gathers national municipalities that implement the CCL project and international entities with practice in deliberative processes, aiming at the exchange of experiences;
- Constitute a CCL Guide of Good Practices;
- Organize annual sharing moments in several municipalities;
- To elaborate a Report that translates the main ideas debated in all the initiatives promoted by the Municipality of Lisbon;
- Support and accompany the municipalities that intend to implement the CCL project, transforming the Participation Division into a municipal center and laboratory of skills based on the participation of the citizens.
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