European capacities for citizen deliberation and participation for the Green Deal

This topic covers citizen deliberation and participation. Actions should establish transnational networks of experts, researchers, practitioners and relevant civil society organisations specialised in deliberative democracy and civic participation across Europe, including professionals in the field of public engagement. Experts on gender equality and climate justice should also be included. They should share good practice, tools and resources and implement participatory and deliberation processes on priority issues in order to deliver on the Green Deal, both at the level of local communities and at wider scale. They should establish connection across the diverse participation and deliberation processes across regions and countries up to the European level. They should build on already existing experience and tools, notably open access ones stemming from EU-funded projects such as the RRI Tools platform.

Actions should include several deliberative processes, each of them implemented in a significant number of Member States or associated countries and complemented by a European online multilingual deliberative platform. Specific topics for deliberation should be co-decided with the European Commission services involved in implementing the Green Deal. They should support major EU actions where public participation is key, including but not limited to Horizon Europe Missions, in close cooperation with the respective mission boards, and other R&I initiatives.

A balanced overall coverage of EU and Associated Countries should be sought. Vulnerable and marginalised categories of the population, minorities and various age groups, including both youth and the elder generation, as well as urban, peri-urban and rural areas, should be considered in analysis and included in deliberations. Gender balance should be ensured and gendered issues should receive specific consideration.

National and local governments and administrations should be closely associated from an early stage, including, to the extent possible, links with existing debates and participatory processes at their levels and taking account of national/local specificities. Clear channels for the take-up of participatory outcomes in decision-making processes should be sought at local, national and/or EU levels and feedback to citizens should be ensured.

Actions should design methodologies for each individual exercise, relying on comparative analysis of international practice and involving people or groups concerned. Depending on their specific objectives, they may either ensure consistency across Member States/Associated Countries for transnational comparability, or select a range of different methodologies to compare their effectiveness.

An advisory board should ensure the robustness, ethical and inclusive character of the planned deliberative processes and vet the methodologies and conditions of implementation of each individual exercise.

Actions should also study each individual exercise, assess and compare their results across the Member States/Associated Countries and provide feedback and recommendations.

Proposals should dedicate resources to engage in coordination and cooperation with the other projects funded under this area, since deliberation and participation are important factors for behavioural change and are closely related to citizen engagement and activism. Such cooperation may encompass setting up a single advisory board per topic to ensure consistency across the projects and/or a single online platform to maximise its reach and impact.

In line with the Union’s strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation, international cooperation is encouraged.

Projects under this topic will enable collective design and ownership of the European Green Deal’s objectives and means, engagement and change through citizen participation and deliberation processes. Consortia should choose a basket of qualitative and quantitative indicators to measure the impact of their work and are encouraged to make use of MoRRI indicators.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3 to 5 million would allow the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

Deadline: 
martes, 26 January, 2021 - 17:00
Geographical Coverage: EuropeanSector of Activity:
Research & innovation