Within CRP project the portal http://participiraj.uirs.si was upgraded with new content and functionalities. The portal is intended to explore the use of public participation in spatial planning procedures. The basic structure of the portal offers selected tools for the implementation of public participation, while the newly developed modules of the CRP project enable different stakeholders of urban development to express their views and the vision related to the development of a concrete city. Three modules were developed: for groups of community action (societies, civil initiatives), for schooling youth (secondary school students) and for municipal officials (in order to establish dialogue and public discussion between local administration and users of urban space). Upgrading the portal enables interested groups to be directly involved in discussions on the development potentials of Slovenian cities.
F.16 Improvements to an existing information system/databases
Although there is growing support for the principle of citizens co-creating places together with local authorities and the private sector, there still seems to be a disconnect between the desire to engage the public, and the reality of the standard consultation procedures followed. It is time to change the way things are done and to bring communities genuinely to the heart of planning and placemaking. This lecture presented innovative methods of co-creation (i.e. collaborative place making), and how they can be applied at a local-level. It addressed a number of important questions: What new possibilities might open up if there was real co-creation in place-making (as to opposed to consultation, which is often only a step away from tokenism)? How should pre-event activities be fed into and help inform design-led events? How can the impact of outcomes from design-led events be tracked during the follow-on stages of collaborative community planning? What constitutes effective best practice for clarifying the level of substantive planning and design expertise a facilitator requires, if any, at any given community design event? The topic is highly relevant, given the increasing application of participatory and community design events in Europe and beyond, along with the use of different engagement tools and methods. As such, in the form of a public lecture, it contributed significantly to the themes and the objectives of the CRP project.
B.05 Guest lecturer at an institute/university
Teresa Córdova discussed Participatory Budgeting (PB) in the city of Chicago and described the role of the Great Cities Institute (GCI) in facilitating this democratic process of determining public spending. The presentation included a history of participatory budgeting and describe the process and partnerships for making this process a success. In addition, the lecturer also discussed the challenges of PB and strategies for overcoming them. PB is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It offers people a fundamentally different way to engage with government. The United Nations has promoted PB as a best practice of democratic governance. In February 2012 GCI partnered with The PB Project and a broad coalition of aldermen, city-wide institutions, and community-based organizations to launch PB Chicago. PB Chicago aims to implement and expand PB processes and direct democracy throughout Chicago. GCI is the lead university partner on PB Chicago, responsible for providing overall project management, community engagement, and evaluation. Since 2012, PB Chicago has engaged over 13,000 residents in twelve different communities in directly deciding how to spend over $18 million in public dollars.
B.05 Guest lecturer at an institute/university