2023 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"
17th Edition
Saint-Denis, La Réunion: Citizen Action Committees (CAC)
The “Comités d’Action Citoyenne” (Citizen Action Committees CAC) are an improvement of the District Councils set up in 2002 by the Vaillant law. There are currently 44 CACs, each based on a micro-district of the city (according to school groups), with an elected referent per CAC, to guarantee the legitimacy of the proposed projects. The CACs are organized as working groups composed mainly of citizens, including local actors (associations, companies, etc.) and are supported and accompanied by representatives of the town hall, whether elected officials or project managers. The functioning of the CAC is set by internal regulations, defined during the very first working meeting. The purpose of these CACs is to meet regularly to discuss possible improvements for the neighborhood, from a cultural or solidarity point of view, or the beautification of the living environment. The CACs are autonomous, and have an envelope of 7,000 Euros per year to carry out their projects.
CAC members are volunteers, and there is no compensation for them in this budget. They are guided by representatives of the town hall, who provide various tools to facilitate the work. There are no conditions for participation in the CACs, regardless of profession, age, gender; the goal is to best represent the rich diversity of the Dionysian population with the aim of engaging as a citizen to develop their neighborhood and a common future. The proposed projects must serve the general interest, by making culture accessible to all, creating links between generations and populations, and making neighborhoods more pleasant and attractive to live in.
The innovation of this device is the hyper-proximity that the division of the districts favors more than in other cities. As a result, participatory democracy and citizen participation are easier to implement through direct contact with citizens, meetings that bring out project ideas, reflections produced by collective intelligence, and financial support and technique of the City to perpetuate the process of self-management.
More information: www.saintdenis.re
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