About twenty specialists from various countries in the region participated, from October 23 to 24, 2024, in the workshop “Collaborative governance and democratic deliberation processes: digital transformation in participation”, organized by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) through the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Economic and Social Planning (ILPES), and the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) in Uruguay.
In the workshop, experts and implementers of dialogue and collaboration processes from different countries and sectors, collectively identified learnings and challenges to advance the design and execution of digital and hybrid citizen participation processes, through the exploration of innovative tools, the exchange of experiences and the creation of collaborative strategies that foster more inclusive and effective participation in their local contexts.
The training was carried out in a context of high citizen distrust in public institutions, which are called to lead the necessary changes to regain their credibility. According to data from the Latinobarómetro survey, the perception that the region’s rulers govern for the interests of a few has continued to increase since 2009, while citizen perception of civil and political guarantees, including the freedom to participate in politics , is weakening. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new governance models that encourage the participation of all actors in society in public management and decision-making, as well as the establishment of spaces for dialogue, collaboration and democratic deliberation that allow the articulation of interests and aspirations about the common good on the public agenda.
In this context, Latin America has interesting experiences of collaborative governance within the framework of participation in the voluntary global initiative Open Government Partnership (OGP), which currently includes 15 countries in the region and 50 subnational governments that, together, have facilitated in the last decade the State-citizen co-creation of 75 national and 35 subnational action plans. In addition, countries have undertaken ambitious initiatives to digitalize government services and procedures to bring the State closer to citizens. Currently, about half of the countries in the region have national digitalization strategies and others are in the process of development.
Due to the above and in the face of a future marked by the climate crisis, digital transformation and uncertainty, and in a context of distrust of important sectors of citizens in public institutions, this workshop sought to reflect on what is needed to guarantee that Multi-stakeholder collaboration, transparency and citizen participation continue to be powerful drivers for planning the future together and formulating policies to achieve it.
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