Coordination Groups
Background and purpose of the meeting
The Citizen and collaborative approach SPIRAL, initially launched by the Council of Europe, is at the origin of the CO-ACT project, implemented by the International Network TOGETHER of cities and territories that participate in this process. SPIRAL and CO-ACT aim to promote co-responsibility for the well-being of all at the scale of society, the first at the local level, the second in public policies at different territorial levels. In this context a large number of citizens of some twenty European and African countries have spoken. First of all to define what is well-being of all, and then to specify, in the form of proposals, public policy measures which they think should be implemented to allow the progress of society towards co-responsibility for the well-being of all. The fact that all citizens have been able to express themselves freely by an introspective and prospective approach without preconceived ideas and ensuring equal speaking rights for all has allowed the emergence of very different proposals and affecting all major social issues. They highlight the fundamental elements of what could be a co-responsible and supportive society for the well-being of all generations included as well on economic issues as democracy and governance, peace/non-violence and social cohesion, space management and time with concrete goals in each of these areas Click here for the synthesis of these proposals and the follow-up to be given. Such goals require, besides adequate Policy measures, responses to build on the experiences of civil society. That's why we invite all organizations of civil society interested and which recognized themselves in these objectives to participate in a building process of appropriate responses. The central idea is to think of ways to progress towards these goals starting from the existing experiences by identifying complementarities in relation to these objectives and identifying the public Policy measures that are necessary for the expression of these complementarities.
After the first three thematic meetings, we will focus on the establishment of a democratic governance of common goods for the well-being of all today and tomorrow. This 4th thematic meeting aims at defining the necessary means to co-construct a collaborative democracy and a coresponsible governance of common goods for the well-being of all today and tomorrow. Conclusions from the first three meetings will be the base for the development of this governance. We will go deeper on the issue of the access to resources, allowing each citizen to participate in the well-being of all according to his abilities and aspirations, and adapt his life project according to these factors. A more flexible approach to accessing resources will lead to address the issue of common goods in a new light. Public goods as well as private and community property will be involved, and it will be necessary to rely on the diversity of experiences in the world on this theme. Through the analysis of ex-antes impact, collective management of common goods tends to improve various components of well-being. Exchanges and decision-making processes involved in this management, based on a democratic model and compromise research, allowing individuals to feel like they are actors and citizens on their territory, and at the same time encouraging the creation of a social bond to strengthen neighbourly relations. This management also reveals a will to help people in difficult situations and, therefore, fight against social inequalities and propose an alternative to the current system, through the search for economic equality and not a search motivated by profit. Life conditions are better now, and so is the feeling of well-being of participants who find autonomy and responsibilities and at the same time share common values (free of charge, sharing, solidarity, democracy...). One of the objectives of the SPIRAL approach is to give back a power of action to actors of the territory, it's not a question of consulting anymore, but to co-construct with citizens. The return to democratic principles therefore requires the development of a collaborative system of democracy where everyone has the opportunity to act on territories. Coresponsibility, because it generates social cohesion and pushes actors to be aware of their role in society and to future generations, is a fundamental principle of this form of democracy. It seems to require a flexible and collective management of common resources and goods. We will focus on this issue during this meeting. The main challenge will be the co-construction of a more democratic model of governance, both at a local and global level, based on experiments performed in several European territories. We will establish an overall strategy based on coresponsibility and taking into account the expectations, motivations and abilities of each.
Objectives of the meeting
The meeting has three objectives:
- Highlight ways to ensure a collaborative democracy and coresponsible governance of common goods for the well-being of all today and tomorrow
- Identify policy measures necessary for this purpose, in addition to the citizens' proposals;
- Agree on a functioning mode of thematic networks after the meeting.
This model of collaborative democracy and coresponsible governance of common goods should be based on :
- A collective management of common goods and a more flexible and equitable access to resources
- Taking power at the local level and defining of a legal framework allowing the development of a more democratic governance
- Tools and methods allowing a collective trans-territorial organisation ensuring a democratic functioning at a global scale
Invitations
To reach this purpose, we want to invite the following people and/or organisations:
- For the first point : People representing the system of “biens arrêtés” in Tunisia, self-managed territories in Larzac, France, the Community Land Thrust in Belgium, water management in Naples and the “Baldios” in Portugal
- For the second point : Local experiences of coresponsible and collaborative governance, such as the Mairie de Saillans (France), the ZAD of Notre-Dames-des-Landes (France), inhabitants associations (Cape Verde), citizens' associations (Turkey), platform Decidim Barcelona (Spain) and an example from Romania
- For the third point : The example of a collaborative platform (DemocracyOS), the contribution of the town of Jette with its decentralised cooperation between Belgium and Morocco, the contribution of the School of Peace for the conflict management in the global context.
Meeting preparation
From now on a debate space online to create the foundation of the model proposed and think about policy measures it implies, and that will be discussed during the meeting.
Program of the two days
Day 1 (Friday 16th, September)
Session 1 : Overview of the CO-ACTE project and the objectives of the meeting
- 9h-9h30 : Reception and presentation of the participants
- 9h30-10h : Presentation of CO-ACTE, its objectives and first results : Synthesis of the citizens' proposals and the conclusions of the first three thematic meetings. Coresponsible governance model for the well-being of all through the articulation between representative, collaborative and direct democracies. Objectives of the meeting – Debate
Session 2 : From the field practice to the realization of a collaborative democracy model based on a shared and coresponsible governance of common goods, for the well-being of all
- 10h-11h30 : Participative management of common goods and coresponsibility : the system of “biens arrêtés” in Tunisia, self-managed territories in Larzac, France, the Community Land Thrust in Belgium, water management in Naples and the “Baldios” in Portugal- Debate : How to create solid bases of coresponsibility in the management of common goods, in public policies and legal frameworks as well as in groups of inhabitants ?
- 11h30-11h45 : Coffee break
- 11h45-13h : Coresponsible governance and democracy at a local level: Contribution of the Mairie de Saillans (France), the ZAD of Notre-Dames-des-Landes (France), inhabitants associations (Cape Verde), citizens' associations (Turkey), platform Decidim Barcelona (Spain) and an example from Romania – Debate : How local politic initiatives participate in the creation of a more just and coresponsible collaborative democracy system ?
- 13h-14h30 : Lunch break
- 14h30-15h45 : Coresponsible governance and democracy at a global level : This session will focus on the forms of collaborative democracy at a global scale (example of a collaborative platform (DemocracyOS), coresponsibility in solidarity relations between distant territories (contribution of the town of Jette with its decentralised cooperation between Belgium and Morocco, the contribution of the School of Peace for the conflict management in the global context - Debate : How to conceive a democratic governance that ensures coresponsibility at a global scale ?
- 17h-18h : 4.Synthesis, improvement of a transversal reference model for a democratic governance and conditions for its feasibility. Levers of coresponsibility in global policies drawing lessons from initiatives such as LEADER in Europe, the PLPR in Cape Verde and the notion of active subsidiarity (Pierre Calame FPH)
- 18h00: End of the works and visit of Timisoara.
Day 2 (Saturday 17th, September)
Session 3 : From the model to the need of public policies
- 9h-10h45 : Working groups on necessary policy measures to evolve towards a more democratic governance system with the reference model created the day before.
- 10h45-11h100 : Coffee break
- 11h00-12h30 : Restitution and synthesis – complementarities and links with the citizens' proposals – Introduction of session 4.
- 12h30-14h00 : Lunch break
Session 4 – Continuation of the project and operation of the thematic sub-networks
- 14h00-15h30 : Functioning of thematic sub-networks in the rest of the meeting : meeting by thematic sub-network
- 15h30 – 16h30 : Synthesis and distribution of tasks until the meeting of Braine l’Alleud and after.
- 16h30 : Conclusion and closing of the meeting.
- 17h00: End of the works.
