The announcement was made by Pia Imbs, President of the Eurometropole, and Jeanne Barseghian
On Friday 13 November, they unveiled the first actions they wish to implement to increase the involvement of citizens in public life. Pia Imbs, President of the Eurometropolis, thus announced that meetings and workshops would be organised in the municipalities (in the neighbourhoods as far as Strasbourg is concerned) on several subjects, including 5G and the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) as a priority. The president and the mayor also wish to organise popular participation around the budget guidance debates next January, in the form of public meetings. Another point discussed was the renewal of the Development Council of the Eurometropolis, for which it is hoped that each municipality will propose candidates, in order to achieve a fair representation of the territory.
Jeanne Barsaghian, Mayor of Strasbourg, expressed her willingness to strengthen the Local Democracy Pact, voted by the City Council on 16 April 2018. However, it is a question of changing certain mechanisms, for example by encouraging closer links between neighbourhood councils and citizens' councils, "for greater efficiency". The Foreign Residents' Council and the Youth Council will be evaluated, and their operation may be redefined if necessary.
The mayor of Strasbourg has also proposed reworking the concept of participatory budgets, in particular by modifying the criteria for the acceptability of proposed projects, "in order to enable their real application". Finally, she put forward the idea of organising citizen initiative workshops and votes, in the spirit of what the Swiss do.
An internet platform (participer.strasbourg-eurometropole.eu) will be operational starting from 2 December. This is a "common platform for citizen participation", which will facilitate access to information made available by local authorities to submit a subject for public debate.
Source and more information:
webmag | La parole aux citoyens
Démocratie locale. Strasbourg : le Conseil de la Participation Citoyenne, riche en échanges
La démocratie locale, "urgence" oubliée du début de mandat
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