Citizen-centric e-participation: A trilateral collaboration for democratic innovation

Purpose and goal

A Nordic-Baltic network for e-participation has been established between public institutions, academia and industry. Three years of empirical studies, experiences and concrete collaborations have resulted in the development of several innovative solutions which have been applied in new contexts. Similarities between the countries have facilitated knowledge-sharing and technology transfer. Meanwhile, changing situational factors - such as economic crisis and lacking legitimacy - have contributed to a deeper understanding of the varying challenges for e-participation.

Results and expected effects

Collaborative research and data collection has paved the way for comparative studies increasing our understanding of e-participation challenges in different contexts. The solutions developed within the project have been used by 1000s of citizens whose participation has influenced policy decisions - even in constitutional matters. Hence, the project has produced clear results both scientifically as well as practically. Still, the results of our research suggest that much development work remains before systems for e-participation are truly effective and widely accepted.

Approach and implementation

The project has largely followed a three step plan: (1) to foster understanding for the conditions for e-participation in different contexts, which (2) informs the development and implementation, which (3) is evaluated to arrive at a set of recommendations and initiatives for future development and research. Three joint workshops have been organized: Orebro (2012), Tallinn (2013) and Reykjavik (2014). In addition to these conferences, the collaboration of the network has progressed well through regular online meetings, and concrete collaborations between different partners.