The directors of ANEL participated at the Interreg Europe Lead Partners Seminar, which took place in Antwerp, Belgium, on March 19th, 2024. Interreg Europe organised this seminar for the newly approved projects’ lead partners from the second call. During the seminar, participants learned about reporting on activities, communication and management of project finances. Participants also had the opportunity to meet and network with each other and the representatives of the joint secretariat.
ANEL’s directors participated at this seminar on behalf of the project CIVITEC. Civic Tech encompasses new and emerging ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies), tools and processes that enable greater citizen/community participation in a free and democratic society. The main types of civic technology addressed by the CITITEC project falls under the following categories: 1) citizen to citizen (C2C): tech improving citizen mobilisation or connections between citizens; 2) citizen to government (C2G): tech improving the frequency and quality of interactions between the citizens and public institutions.
In line with the objective ‘better governance’, CIVITEC aims to improve policies for making democracy more participatory, inclusive and responsive, while using new and emerging ICTs, tools and processes (Civic Tech) allied to open and inclusive participatory processes. Examples of such tools include online petitions, open data portals, citizen evaluation & monitoring platforms, and participatory budgeting systems, where citizens collectively discuss community needs and priorities and then allocate public funds accordingly.
To enhance citizen participation and better integrate them into decision making processes, CIVITEC will pursue the following sub-objectives:
- Reinforcing the transparency, accountability, and capacity of local government through participatory processes that involve the targeted of Civic Tech as well as improvements in the strategies and process methodologies.
- Increasing citizen and stakeholder participation in decision making and policy implementation processes.
Click here to find out more about the CIVITEC project.