Development of the public involvement in decision-making processes and public consultations in the city of Jihlava

About this project

<p>The aim is to improve the quality and effectiveness of planning and decision-making processes, to continue building positive relationships, trust, and partnership with the citizens, and to find easy ways for the public to access and evaluate results achieved in a given matter. The project is going to tackle the identified problem using chosen methods and their expected outcomes. During the project, we are going to set up an internal system of planning events and surveys of public hearings, a website for the public with a clear overview of how one can participate, and we are also going to continuously invite the public to an ongoing dialog. We want to effectively discuss the current state and development of the city with the public as well as specific target groups, which is why part of the project consists of organizing events related to the topics and projects mentioned. The defined problem lies in a lack of expert training among Jihlava’s city hall employees (onwards referred to as the Municipality) in the public’s participation in the planning and decision-making processes of the city. Specifically, there is a lack of understanding of participatory processes and appropriate methodology, including the necessary know-how related to processing and effectively employing gained insights. The goal is to continue improving the employees’ competence: their abilities to plan and lead public hearings, deal with the public’s inputs effectively and transparently and communicate the results and impacts of these inputs. We want further to increase the public’s participation in public hearings (surveys and other decision-making processes) and also to establish collaboration with a city with a completely different experience. A partner of the project is the city of Reykjavik. The partner will be involved in the educational pillar of the project: reciprocal internships, workshops for the city employees, politicians, and community committees, and regular online consultations.&nbsp;</p>

Bilateral cooperation results

The City of Reykjavik has an extensive experience in engaging the public that is transferable to other countries. The project partner was very understanding and responsive, their representatives werre able to assess the situation in Jihlava based on their experience with Central and Eastern European countries. Thanks to the internship, they were able to interact personally with both employees and politicians. The partner´s recommendations for future action were very practical. As a country, we are at the beginning with participation and civil rights, and we, the Project Promoter, have become convinced that public participation requires political support from the leadership, without which officials cannot make decisions and innovate. It is a journey that Iceland has also been through. Defending democratic rights is a daily, collaborative activity.

Project partners

• The City of Reykjavik Donor project partner· Iceland