The IOPD Technical Secretariat attended a meeting of Participedia held on 6th and 7th September in Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada). During these meetings, was widely discussed ways to improve coordination and cooperation in academic research on citizen participation and democratic innovations, and their practical applications in local governments and actions of organized civil society. The meetings were held on the campus of the University of British Columbia (UBC) and were involved the direction of Participedia and numerous professors and researchers from universities in Canada, USA, Brazil, Germany and China.

The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) as an organization that brings together stakeholders in participatory democracy, makes a commitment to create a networking of international cooperation to improve knowledge and understanding of the new political phenomena in order to deepen democracy in the city governance.