We Act.
Local Democracy.

Local democracy has been challenged in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. Measures to contain the spread of the virus has imposed limits on individual freedoms. Moreover, some state actors found in the health crisis an alibi for recentralisation.

This session addressed the renewal of local democracy, an integral aspect of the Pact for the Future. The debates articulate how the lessons learned during the pandemic could allow us to bring the UCLG Decalogue for the COVID-19 era to the ground.

The 21st Conference of the IOPD, the World Summit on Participatory Democracy, was held in Grenoble, France, from December 7 to 10, 2021. Its theme was “Taking Action! Towards a democratic renewal in the face of the ecological, health and social crisis”. It was held symbolically in the European Green Capital, a title awarded by the European Commission each year to cities that are particularly ambitious in their commitment to fight climate change and preserve biodiversity.

Participatory budgets, participation systems, initiatives led by citizens to increase green spaces in their cities, work sites open to the public, culture for all, citizen’s climate assemblies, municipalism, democratic, social and ecological transition: the subjects were multitudinous, participants were numerous and diverse, and the exchanges were rich. During these three days of exchanges, we have covered a large number of subjects that reflect the challenges we are facing collectively.

The 21st IOPD conference was a mirror of the challenges of the 21st century.

The Agenda for Local Democracy is composed of a series of recommendations for local governments from around the world to improve democracy in their institutions. It was done through a co-creation process at the PARTICIPATE OIDP platform and approved the 27th November 2018 during the IOPD General Assembly. You will find the original text here and an infographic with the highlights of the agenda here.

The International Observatory on Participatory Democracy hosts a compilation of good practices in co-creation, participation and local democracy policies.