Minimizing effects of underlying inequalities in digital democratic innovation

Description:

Background: Characterized by great socio-economic diversity correlating closely with its geography of municipal districts, Botkyrka municipality constitutes an apt example on the effects of underlying social inequalities on civic participation, and can provide some insight onto potential mitigating measures.

Problem statement: Civil dialogue is a powerful tool to increase citizen impact on public decision making, and digital dialogues widens the window for participation by lessening the physical dialogues' constraints of time limits and specific locations. In practice however, civil dialogue participation is generally far from as large or representative as election turnout. Furthermore, the differences in digital literacy and language skills often amplify pre-existing disparities in civic participation among citizens. How can we harness the advantages of digitalization in democratic innovations while still ensuring representativeness and minimizing inequalities in its implementation and output?

Method:

• Short introduction to the problem, framed through case example of Botkyrka municipality ~10 minutes
• Tour-de-table of participants to share potential similiar experiences of inequalities in digital democratic participation ~10 minutes
• Participants are divided into groups, which are then given the task to design a digital civil dialogue in a fictional city which has various demographic groups with different prerequisites for participation. The design should aim to reach as representative and inclusive of a participation among citizens as possible ~40 minutes
• Group presentations of the designs, and discussion amongst the groups ~20 minutes
• Tour-de-table, concluding reflections on the workshop ~10 minutes

Aim: The purpose of the workshop is to discuss problems relating to inequality in digital democratic participation, share best practice and consider methods for broader inclusion using the Decidim platform.

Language of the session: English

Logistical needs: Screen/projector

Maximum number of participants: 30

Number of people facilitating the workshop: 2