Public Engagement, Local Policies, and Citizens’ Participation: An Italian Case Study of Civic Collaboration

Abstract

Since the 1990s, the theme of participation has come to the fore in international debates regarding at least three critical issues: the relationship between representative democracy and deliberative democracy and the possibility of citizens' empowerment through their involvement in policy making; the role of communication and of digital media in promoting new forms of participation; the feeling of disaffection toward politics and of democratic deficit. What we observe is a proliferation of experiences of both bottom-up and top-down enhanced forms of civic engagement. Our article focuses on "public engagement." We analyze the civic collaboration policy promoted by the Municipality of Bologna (Italy) in the frame of "collaborative governance" of the commons, based on civic involvement and governance transparency. Civic collaboration is characterized by a mixed communication ecology. We focus on the inclusiveness of this form of public engagement with local policies and on the role of digital media in supporting citizen's engagement. Civic collaboration emerges as a new, interesting frontier in top-down enhanced participation in local policies. We are currently witnessing some promising changes in the boundaries of participation, in civic practices and competencies. In conclusion, we argue that the concreteness of the projects of civic collaboration can enhance citizens' trust in the municipal administration, but we wonder whether it is likely to become a substitute for fuller citizen participation in local governance and whether it could also foster a removal of the controversial dimension of the political.

Hyperlokaalin median rooli kansalaiskeskustelussa Venäjällä

“…Digitaalisen median tarjoamista mahdollisuuksista huolimatta ei ole vielä tarpeeksi tietoa siitä, miten tällaiset tiedotusvälineet tarkalleen ottaen parantavat viestintää yhteiskunnassa ja johtavatko ne tehokkaampaan hallintoon. Eri maissa tehdyt tutkimukset osoittavat, että kansalaisten vaikutusmahdollisuudet ovat rajalliset (Bartoletti & Faccioli 2016). Ensinnäkin digitaalinen teknologia ei ratkaise ongelmaa, joka liittyy kansalaisten tasapuoliseen osallistumiseen.…”

Unused private and public buildings: Re-discussing merely empty and truly abandoned situations, with particular reference to the case of Italy and the city of Milan

“…Thirdly, unused public buildings can be assigned for free to civic associations, provided that these manage and maintain them. In Italy, one of the ways in which this option is possible consists of specific forms of local regulation called "Regolamenti per la cura e la rigenerazione dei beni comuni urbani (Codes for the care and regeneration of urban commons)" (Bartoletti & Faccioli, 2016). The first code of this kind was adopted by the city of Bologna at the beginning of 2014.…”

Collaborative governance towards cities sustainability transition

“…Wargent & Parker (2018) emphasize that principles of collaborative governance, based on the role and leadership of citizens, ground the idea of collaborative democracy. In this sense, Bartoletti & Faccioli (2016) argue that democracy must be inclusive, allowing citizens to participate and collaborate. Therefore, Helms (2016) reports that representative democracy, which is played by political agents, is experiencing a crisis and that new governance models are needed.…”