The Poitou-Charentes Region and Sciences Po, in parternship with the DEL research network, organize the 5th Europe-America Conference on "Participatory Democracy and the Internet".

Please find below the programme of this conference which will take place in Poitiers (France) on May 29, 2009.

Online registration : http://www.iberoamerica-sciences-po.fr/ or http://www.democratie-participative.fr/

5th Europe – America Conference
Organized by the Region Poitou-Charentes and Sciences Po
In partnership with the « Electronic Democracy » Research Network (DEL)

May 29th, 2009
Maison de la Région Poitou-Charentes, Poitiers (France)

PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY AND THE INTERNET

In a context of abundant experimentations and projects which seek to improve the citizens’ participation in the policy-making process, information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer new opportunities to express opinions and to share decisions.
Various participatory devices using ICTs usually called by the controversial term of “electronic democracy” may refer to, for example, blogs created by citizens, politicians or activists; online consultations; fora or Internet platforms facilitating democratic discussions; electronic voting; e-rulemaking.
In 2009, the 5th edition of the Europe-America conference aims to tackle the issues raised by the various aspects of “e-democracy”, with regard, in particular, to participatory democracy practices which are not based on ICT.
Citizens are thus led to talk on topics of common interest through devices which often join offline and online procedures together, at diverse scales (local, regional, national, European and even international level).
On the basis of both experiences of key players in the field of e-democracy and contributions from researchers who have studied e-democracy practices in several countries, three kinds of procedures strongly linked to the decision-making process will be discussed: online participatory budgets, electronic participative assemblies and e-rulemaking.

PROGRAMME

9h30 - 10h

Ségolène Royal, Président of the Region Poitou-Charentes

Richard Descoings, Director of Sciences Po Paris

10h-11h30 : E-participation: opportunities and challenges

Thierry Vedel,
Centre for Political Research at Sciences Po (CEVIPOF), France
“Issues about electronic democracy”

Yanina Welp,
Zentrum für Demokratie Aarau, University of Zürich, Switzerland
“New and old ways of exercising power: ICTs for Democracy in Latin America”

Benoît Thieulin,
La Netscouade, France
“From mybarackObama.com to WhiteHouse2.0: a meeting between community organising and social Web”

Discussant: Yves Sintomer, Marc Bloch Centre, Berlin, Germany

11h45-13h : E-participation in the legislative process

Hille Hinsberg,
Chancellery of the Estonian Republic
“Engaging citizens in policy-making: e-participation channels in Estonia”

Manuele Braghero,
Tuscany Region, Italia
“E-Participation in the legislative process in Tuscany: a guarantee of transparency and a method to take good decision”

Discussant: Laurence Monnoyer-Smith, COSTECH, University of Technology, Compiègne, France

14h30-16h : ICTs within participatory assemblies: 21st century town meetings, e-town meetings

Carolyn Lukensmeyer,
America Speaks, Washington, USA
“Engaging Citizens in Governance - 21st Century Town Meetings and Beyond”

Julien Talpin,
Centre on Cultures and Urban Societies, University of Paris 8, France
“Selecting good arguments? Benefits and limits of deliberation in the Ideal-EU's digital gathering”

Stefan Schäfers,
King Baudouin Fondation, Brussels, Belgium
“Experiences with Europe-wide online debates”

Discussant: Gérard Loiseau, CERTOP-CNRS, France

16h15 – 17h45 : Electronic participatory budgeting

Bengt Feil,
TuTech innovation GmbH, Hambourg, Germany
“Gender Mainstreaming in multi-channel Participatory Budgeting”

Helvecio Magalhaes,
Planning Secretary of Belo Horizonte's City, Brazil
“The digital participatory budget of Belo Horizonte”

Estelle Charpenay,
Director for participatory democracy in the City of Grigny, France
“The online participatory budget of Grigny”

Discussant: Tiago Peixoto, European University Institute, Florence, Italy

17Hh45-18h
Summarization of the meeting, Loïc Blondiaux, CRPS, University of Paris 1, France

Scientific responsible: Stéphanie Wojcik (stephanie.wojcik@univ-paris12.fr), CEDITEC, University of Paris 12 Val-de-Marne