The Brussels government has launched a new online platform to encourage residents to have their say in local decisions, from development plans to community initiatives.
The Minister for Participatory Democracy in Brussels, Alain Maron, officially launched the new online platform, perspective.brussels, on Tuesday to provide information and tools for anyone interested in citizen participation. The platform is the latest tool offered by the Regional Participation Service, which was created by the Brussels government in 2021.
The Participation Service and new online platform are among measures introduced by government to improve public participation in the development of projects and policies.
Participatory democracy enables foreign nationals to weigh in on decisions in their local community, as they make up 36.9% of the Brussels-Capital Region's population and cannot vote in regional elections.
The Brussels government has said that higher quality and more systematic public participation in the run up to projects will lead to better quality outcomes, as well as greater social cohesion in local areas.
The online platform explains the different types of participation processes and phases in Brussels, including real-life examples, as well as an interactive map of local initiatives, and other informative articles on different themes.
It also offers a service for public stakeholders and citizen collectives to access qualified professionals in areas such as design, facilitation, communication, mobilisation of target groups and evaluation of participation processes.
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The aim of this service, offered through a procurement hub, is to support those who are trying to develop high-quality citizen participation projects in Brussels.
The Participation Service has also brought together a network of over 100 officials involved in participation, who held their first meeting in February. This network allows those involved in local projects to exchange good practices, and provides them with training courses and information aimed at improving the public participation processes they implement.
In a press release, Maron stated that giving citizens a say in projects is essential "to build a region that meets the wishes of its inhabitants." He added that the Participation Service was created to "encourage and strengthen this culture of participation," which he said is vital to democracy in Brussels.
