E-participation best practice manual by e-governance academy

e-Participation Best Practice Manual

Par cipa on aims to provide ci zens and nongovernmental organisa ons with the opportunity of par cipa ng in making decisions that a ect them, and e-par cipa on is a means and opportunity of doing this with the help of technology. This suggests that these terms cannot be separated from each other and e-par cipa on is only an addi onal method of substan ve involvement which means that the same principles of par cipaon apply. S ll, with today’s communica on habits and skills, e-par cipa on is becoming the number one form of par cipa on for many people.

The driving force behind the project is the growing concern about democra c deficit in the society. As a result, state administra ons have started to strengthen par cipatory opportuni es and prerequisites for ci zen par cipa on in the political process. These include ini a ves, informa on campaigns, pilot projects and various experiments. The projects have generated a wide selec on of tools for promo ng and safeguarding democracy in fields such as informa on provision, communica on and interac on. S ll, there is li le verified knowledge of the e ec veness of such projects and of similar experiences in other EU member states. The present manual tries to fill this gap and present a collec on of cases which can be taken as models for ci zens and local public authori es in using various e-democracy tools for par cipa on.

The local government can no longer just distribute informa on about decisions on their website – ci zens expect more. They have become accustomed to using the Internet and social media as a communica on environment and they have a similar expecta on of the local government. The desire to par cipate in shaping one’s living environment is perfectly understandable and welcome, and e-channels provide a suitable means for that. Our aim in compiling the e-Par cipa on Manual and the present guidelines that accompany it is to assist local governments in that and o er them support and advice in be er coping with new challenges.

The prac cal presenta on of the best prac ces which is accompanied with an introduc on to every topic is primarily targeted to the o cials of local authori es and ins tu ons responsible for dealing with local public par cipa on and democracy issues. However, this material can hopefully also inspire the wider public, including representaves of civil society organiza ons.

The main objec ve of the manual and the project is to elaborate and exchange ci zens’ e-par cipaon prac ces in order to increase and promote par cipatory opportuni es within the European Union member states.

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E-par cipa on is, thus, an important challenge for local governments, an element that could help signiﬁcantly increase the transparency of governance and people’s par cipa on in organising local life.

1. STEP – Background, Expecta ons

2. STEP – Planning of the process

3. STEP – Ac on:e-Par cipa on ac vi es

4. STEP - Communica on

5. STEP - Decision, Evalua on, Feedback

Case Study – Preparing the City of Tartu Bus Procurement

II Guidelines for using e-Par cipa on Manuali

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I The planning of par cipatory decision-making

illustrated with sample cases: success stories as well as stories that are valuable lessons despite being failures.

BACKGROUND, EXPECTATIONS

PLANNING

ACTION

COMMUNICATION

DECISION, EVALUATION, FEEDBACK

Below, we give detailed descrip ons of each step and present a list of ques ons that should be answered before beginning par cipatory decision-making. In many ways, the general mechanisms of e-par cipaon are the same as those of tradi onal par cipa on, although the use of new communica on channels adds addi onal nuances.

A er describing the ﬁve steps necessary for par cipaon, we explore the example of the public procurement of buses in the City of Tartu where e-par cipa on was an important element in decision-making.

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The use of online environments in increasing communica on with ci zens requires speciﬁc ac ons that could be presented in ﬁve steps. In this manual, each step is

of an average-sized street. In a small rural area even the opinion of 10 people could be important. People should not be forced to par cipate; they should instead express a desire to do so. This means that informa on regarding new projects and processes should be distributed beforehand.

1. In which instances should residents be consulted before decision-making? 2. What is the aim of (e-)par cipa on: to get feedback on the plans of the local government or generate new ideas and sugges ons? What speciﬁc goals should the process help achieve?

- It is not always necessary or possible to include a wide circle of people. The circle could be small when the issue pertains to a very speciﬁc area. However, very o en the ini al circle of people should be as broad as possible in order to generate new ideas and new approaches. Details could be speciﬁed later and alterna ves could be weighed by a small group of specialists.

3. Do the organisa onal culture and work processes that the local government has allow par cipa on processes to be conducted and e-par cipa on to be applied successfully? What changes are necessary for that?

- The approval and constant support of management are vital. One central argument for par cipa on is the need to iden fy the opinions of people outside the organisa on, to gain new perspec ves and new knowledge. Problems are usually complex and one decision-maker cannot know everything. It is also important not to simply include the formal and obligatory par cipants. Frequently, invi ng people who are usually le uninvited can help to think outside the box. For instance, in deciding city planning, the teachers and students of art schools could be included more than they have been in the past.

4. How prepared are the residents to par cipate in the process, including via e-channels?

- Par cipa on should not be limited to instances and issues in which it is required by law (e.g. in development plans). Par cipa on should be promoted in all issues that have to do with public interest. Prior to that, however, public interest needs to be deﬁned jointly. It is important to include people in processes such as city centre planning or the building of a new bridge. Even topics that are of less relevance for the local government are important for the people. These topics would be a good star ng point for learning to include both par es and for gaining experience in par cipa on. For example, the residents of a city district could be consulted when deciding where and which play ground should be built. In order to deﬁne public interest, there should be close coopera on with the department of public rela ons or specialist as people are o en very interested in decisions that seemingly have only to do with the internal structures of the local government. In small local governments where there is no such dis nct department or specialist, o cials are recommended to jointly discuss the impact of di erent decisions on di erent resident groups with each new issue.

- Another strong argument for par cipa on is that by including people a ected by one or another decision, later nega ve feedback can be avoided or at least mi gated. Furthermore, par cipa on not only reduces the risk of cri cism but also the risk of mistakes and wrongful decisions. - A competency centre within the organisa on is necessary. This could be the department of public rela ons or, in a small local government, a single person (public rela ons manager, development adviser etc.) - Conduc ng an (e-)par cipa on process undoubtedly requires a willingness on behalf of the organisa on to change its work and decision-making processes in order to become faster, more ﬂexible and open. - If the ﬁnal decision is already made and par cipa on or non-par cipa on could not (for whatever reason) change it any longer, then there is no point in ini a ng par cipa on. Seeming par cipa on will only damage the organisa on’s rela onships with resident groups, not to men on their reputa on, making it di cult to ini ate par cipa on in the future.

- The general rule is that residents should be invited to par cipate when the decision a ects many of them. Of course, “many” is a rela ve concept but in a town this could, for example, mean the residents

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1. Who o sshould ou d be involved o ed in tthee p planned a ed p process? ocess Who o are the target groups whom the speciﬁc ques on would directly a ect? Who has expert knowledge in this ﬁeld? Who are the interest groups who could help reach the target groups?

- It is always advisable to begin with (e-)par cipa on sooner rather than later. It is important that at every phase the par cipants have enough me to familiarise themselves with the topic and background informa on (including possible alterna ve solu ons).

2. How can the target and interest groups be reached? Is it enough to distribute informa on via e-channels or should other channels be used?

- The aim of par cipa on has to be presented in brief and clear terms. The schedule and the desired results of each phase also have to be communicated.

3. What is the me frame for par cipa on – the beginning, the phases and the end? When should the decision be made?

- From the very beginning, it is important to have specific rules of when and through which channels people will be included; who and how will gather and distribute the feedback from the par cipants; which alterna ves will later figure in decision-making and so on. It is important to repeat the rules in each phase. Ideally, the rules should also be created through inclusion and nego a on. The rules should addi onally cover how disagreements will be solved (for instance, through taking a vote) and who makes the final decision. The rules and full informa on about the en re process have to be easily found and always available (electronically) to all par es.

4. What are the rules of par cipa on? How will par cipants’ input be used and feedback given to them? Who makes the ﬁnal decision: the par cipants (for example, through vo ng) or the local government? 5. How will e-par cipa on be organised technologically? Which technologies will be used? Can the exis ng ones be used or should new ones be sought? Where will we ﬁnd them? Will we use freeware or will necessary solu ons have to be ordered?

- Although a set schedule and rules are very important, so too is ﬂexibility as various factors may force changes to the ini al plan. These should not greatly a ect the end result – the manager of the par cipa on process has to know which methods work and be prepared to change the methods or channels if the ini al ones do not work. - The key words in distribu ng informa on to the par cipants of any process should be simplicity, concreteness, brevity, right slogans; no one will read lengthy documents at each phase. - The planned pla orm for par cipa on has to be reliable and technically simple and user friendly. - The ini al schedule should include addi onal me for solving disagreements in the ﬁnal phase and, if a consensus cannot be reached, for repea ng some phases a er improvements.

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• Use of online-channels for preparing a public transporta on procurement in Tartu, Municipality of Tartu (Estonia) see the case study presented on page 14.

To create a dialog-portal that both delivers informa on and o ers the possibility to par cipate. Par cipa on is possible on di erent levels: the user can choose to par cipate i t with ith th their i own vision i i or id ideas or choose h tto solely read the comments and give “votes”.

• The future of Vejle, Municipality of Vejle (in Denmark)

Vejlesfrem d.dk has primarily been established for the “industrial policy-debate”. www.vejlesfrem d.dk is an online dialog-portal where ci zens and the business-community can be part of developing new industrial policy. Through press and other channels the City of Vejle (which is situated in Jutland and has about 50,000 residents) has encouraged the local business-community to get involved in the debate. The idea was ini ated by the communicaon department and the city manager. Vejlesfrem d.dk is not only an “idea box”. It is also a portal where you can ﬁnd facts, analysis and informaon about conferences and ac vi es related to industrial policy. This part of the portal is called “the focus part”.

Marke ng is important. Otherwise people will not use the site or do not even know it exists. It is important to inform people both through the local media and to talk about it at public events.

The portal has been made in an open source system and created by the web design bureau Skybrud.dk in coopera on with the company Seismonaut. It has been programmed in Umbraco.

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It has been a posi ve experience to combine the possibility to par cipate and get informa on on the same site. There have been more users who have visited the site for informa on than those who visit for par cipaon. There have been about 30 readers per day but, unfortunately, not very many who have par cipated by submi ng their own ideas or visions.

Questions: 1. Are we actually ready to begin? 1

- Local governments should recognise the use of open materials in making governance more transparent as an important aspect of par cipa on. An ini al step in this might be the compila on of a list of data and data bases that are made available for open use. The list could also include short comments on each data base, ac ve links to materials, etc. This creates a situa on in which businesses and non-governmental organisa ons can use the data to generate new solu ons and services. An example of this is the site meieraha. eu, created by Garage48 group, where the na onal budget and its parts are visualised and made easily understandable. The site makes use of data that is openly available.

2. Are the o cials par cipa ng in the process aware of their tasks? Are we prepared for poten al changes during the process (someone leaving the organisa on, falling ill, etc.)? 3. Which addi onal ac vi es should be foreseen in order to support par cipatory decision-making?

- The organisers of par cipa on must ﬁrst of all outline the factors that could be changed and the factors that could not be changed during the process so that me would not be spent on irrelevant and unrelated problems. - It is very important that someone from the organisa on could always focus on the on-going par cipa on process so that it would not become an addi onal task to be done when there is nothing be er to do. This person has to be constantly available to the par cipants for feedback and ques ons and they have to update informa on in the par cipa on environment and answer ques ons.

• The Valma prepara on forum, City of Tampere (Finland)

- It is also important that other members of the organisa on are constantly kept informed of the e-par cipa on process. It is useful to create a par cipa on environment (on the Internet, in social media) where the en re process could be monitored (as building informa on can be monitored on some local government sites). Su cient understanding of the process would be enhanced by the use of graphics depic ng the current phase, ac ons completed and ac ons that remain undone.

Valma complements the prac ce of representa ve democracy in Tampere. The aim is to give people a be er chance to more directly par cipate in decisionmaking.

- It is important to be ﬂexible and, when necessary, make concessions and changes to the ini al plan.

The Valma forum allows Tampere residents to express opinions about issues in prepara on. Residents can have a say in ma ers early and throughout the preparatory process. This makes public par cipa on an integral part of the city’s preparatory process.

- Di erent methods and environments should be used simultaneously, because di erent target groups might respond to di erent channels (mee ngs, work groups, online forums).

When opinions are submi ed, they are e-mailed to o cials in charge of the prepara on and the decisionmakers. The decision-makers can then follow the opinions while forming their own views on the issues.

- Beginning with the very ﬁrst phases, it is important to establish a method for recording all disagreements.

Valma can be seen as an e-par cipa on tool or forum for preparatory work. Among other things:

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- A en on should be paid to crea ng a simple system of no ﬁca on (for example, in the channel chosen and used by ci zens) for no fying the par cipants of new available data.

• it puts items online for commentary, outlines the procedure and tells the users when to act. It shows all related documents, processing informa on and GIS data. It sends the opinions submi ed to the preparatory o cial and commi ee members and publishes the opinions, if the sender provides his/her contact informa on. Opinions can be posted under a pen name. • it posts items by subject ma er. It posts the latest items and d opinions i i on the h ffront page. Th Those who h b become registered users receive e-mails from Valma about issues they are interested in at their request.

The informa on is published alongside o cial data which means that the processing phase of the subject ma er, electronic documents and decisions can be viewed in the same electronic environment simultaneously. There is a connec on to the GIS-service so that Valma-users can scope issues of interest. People can register to Valma and subscribe to bulle ns on interes ng topics and areas.

During the Valma project, working groups and workshops were used as work methods. This was considered an e ec ve way to proceed, although it was quite a di cult way of working.

Public consulta on and residents’ feedback is an integral part of high-quality preparatory work. Valma o ers a complete and user-friendly approach to collec ng feedback in very di erent cases.

- It is necessary to have a speciﬁc member of the organisa on in charge of arranging civic par cipa on.

Valma was developed to complement the prac ce of representa ve democracy in Tampere. The aim was to give people a be er chance to more directly take part in decision-making.

- The commitment of the highest management level was important in the Valma development project, as it is in public par cipa on in general. - In the implementa on phase, the most important partners were o cials from di erent parts of the city government. At this phase, the coopera on with the City Communica ons Unit became very important. Residents obviously need to know the par cipa on possibili es before it is possible for them to par cipate.

In order to improve residents’ par cipa on, it is very important to have poli cal and top-management support. Ci zens’ opinions should be gathered at the best suitable me which means the sooner the be er. Longlas ng Valma inquiries are generally not necessary. Two weeks is usually long enough. Ci zens’ par cipa on is possible only if they are adequately informed about the possibili es to par cipate. Informa on on Valma-issues is made available in compliance with the usual communica on prac ces of the City of Tampere. At least a press release is wri en on each Valma-topic.

- It is important for the preparatory process to clearly specify how the collected opinions will be used. Do we want new perspec ves, to collect informa on and clarify various op ons or something else. This should already be taken into account when deciding what and how to ask using services such as Valma. - Giving residents early opportuni es to par cipate is part of preparatory work and decision-making. It is important for city management, elected o cials and civil servants to support the idea of promo ng par cipa on. Also, access to informa on is a basic condi on for developing e-par cipa on.

When a decision is made on any issue, its preparatory text will men on if Valma was used. There would also be a link to the Valma site where all the comments are published. The number of comments received and the me when they were collected are reported. The preparatory text also gives a summary of the comments.

See more cases on this step in e-Par cipa on Manual.

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- The development of resident par cipa on requires enough resources.

- It is important to clearly deﬁne who will represent the local government in certain areas. Media prefers experts to press secretaries but the department of public rela ons should s ll be the coordinator of media events and all messages should be previously discussed. It is important that the messages sent by the organisa on (through di erent o cials) not be contradictory. This is especially vital in crises.

1. Which ee-channels 1 channels should be used to reach as many people as possible? Which other channels should be used to inform residents of the par cipa on process and of the possibility to e-par cipate? Which channel would allow us to most e ec vely reach the main target group of this speciﬁc par cipa on process? 2. How can media be made to take an interest; how can we become no ceable so that the media could be used to reach relevant target groups?

- Opera ng in social media undeniably challenges the whole organisa onal culture and exis ng work processes. In order to cope with that challenge, it is necessary to previously agree upon (and, ideally, formulate clearly) a set of rules for the o cials to follow on social media. There are numerous ques ons: will the Facebook page, Twi er and YouTube accounts be only updated by the department of public rela ons or the public rela ons adviser? Or should each o cial have the obliga on to present issues and respond to ques ons related to their ﬁeld? Or should that be the case with only certain o cials (if so, who)? How o en should o cials visit the local government’s Facebook page? Should the o cials have an individual account for this purpose or should they be allowed to raise issues and answer ques ons related to the city and municipality life under their personal accounts as well? Each local government should discuss these ques ons in their internal structures, because the work processes and organisa onal culture are very di erent in di erent local governments.

3. Are the messages and informa on we convey understandable to the public?

- It would be reasonable to test the messages on di erent groups to ﬁnd out if they are clear and invite people to read and listen and change their opinions. - Complex informa on could be visualised (pictures, infographics, videos) on online environments; this will ensure interest in the informa on and a be er understanding and reten on of it. - For the issue to draw enough media a en on, it has to address many people (see above for public interest), present an interes ng point of view and point to connec ons and impact so that people could iden fy with the issue and feel personally involved.

- Before going on social media the most important ques on to answer is whether o cials are ready for it. It is important to remember that using social media forces the o cials to take more risks and decide on their own what and when to communicate. There is no me for lengthy processes of approval otherwise characteris c to the public sector – in social media, answers are needed at a moment’s no ce.

- It should be emphasised that it is always best to be the ﬁrst to provide informa on to the media, even in a situa on in which the message is not necessarily favourable to the local government. Honesty and willingness to cooperate engenders a be er rela onship with the media as well as a more understanding and coopera ve a tude from all groups.

- The role of social media should be viewed more broadly than just as a channel for exchanging informa on and having a dialogue. As the example below on the prepara on of the par cipa on process as a social media campaign in the City of Tartu bus procurement project reveals, this channel makes it possible for the local governments to successfully conduct online consulta on and reach a ﬁnal decision through a par cipatory process.

- Not everyone are or plan to be on social media sites, so it is important for the local government to cooperate with local media. - At the same me, social media is an excellent pla orm for quick and ﬂexible communica on and local governments should treat it as an o cial channel for par cipa on and distribu ng informa on.

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• Facebook group called Odense +, Municipality of Odense (Denmark)

language and need not always be poli cally correct. Such an approach seems to be jus ﬁed: the page has over 13,000 fans and ac ve discussion takes place there.

Odense Municipality planned to create a Facebook account in order to distribute cultural informa on and d ini ate d discussions related l d to culture. l They h were hesitant in the beginning and not absolutely certain as to how the account would be managed and how residents would respond to the ini a ve. The sugges on was made to buy the service from a resident who was well-versed in the local cultural life and a fan of Facebook. The local government ini ates topics but tries to keep a low proﬁle and the page does not adver se that it is the local government’s Facebook account. Rather, the local government makes a conscious choice to let the users believe that it is an environment by residents for residents due to the fear that the more typical users of social media might consider the so-called o cial page of the government boring. The municipality itself claims that if the page has enough visitors and content and they gain enough experience, they are perfectly willing to fully manage the account themselves. At the same me, they agree that as the current manager is not an o cial, they can use a more informal style and

• Informing f i cii zens on par cipa i on possibili ibili es through a Facebook page, City of Tampere (Finland) The service of local democracy in the City of Tampere created a page on Facebook focusing speciﬁcally on par cipa on. On that page, all on-going par cipa on processes, ques onnaires and the work of the youth parliament were e ec vely mediated to the public. The main reason for this was the feeling that despite Tampere’s long experience in par cipa on people s ll had limited knowledge on the opportuni es of par cipa on. The fear also was that if they had an account for news concerning the city, the speciﬁc call to par cipate would be lost. They did ini ally fear an onslaught of nega ve comments but s ll allowed all users to freely comment, ask ques ons and so on. Their experience shows that there is no need to fear nega ve comments, but the biggest di culty is convincing people to par cipate.

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See more cases on this step in e-Par cipa on Manual.

1. How will the ﬁnal decision be made if the process has resulted in numerous disagreements?

- When making the ﬁnal decision in the light of di erent opinions, solu ons, plans and so forth it is important to once more discuss the impact of each decision on the di erent par es (by including addi onal experts if necessary). This will also help be er communicate and explain the decision to the di erent par es.

2. How will we communicate and explain our decision? Do we have su cient arguments for the decision (and counter arguments for those who disagreed)? 3. Was the ini al plan realised? What was altered and why? If something failed, then why did this happen?

- It is important not to neglect the people involved once you have the desired result (a decision, input) from the process. The par cipants have to be told the ﬁnal decision and the reasons for it, and you have to be ready to explain in detail why all di erent opinions could not be taken into account. Personal feedback is o en needed in order to avoid conﬂicts. You also have to be prepared to communicate over a period of me with the people who have di erent opinions.

4. Were the people involved pleased with the result? Were they pleased with the process as a whole even if the result was not the one they suggested? How can we ﬁnd out what the par cipants thought?

- It is crucial to remember that par cipa on cannot be allowed to lead to indecision. The process of par cipa on has to have a result. Reaching a compromise between par es is important but it should not be an end onto itself. It is important to focus on the main goal. - It is important to collect the impressions and assessment of all par cipants (including the departments and o cials of the organisa on itself) of the results and of the en re process. This is also a good me to ask for ideas and sugges ons for future processes. - It is necessary to be honest and cri cal in assessing the ini al plan, the ac ons taken and the actual outcome. If there was failure, it needs to be explained and the specific reasons for it have to be made public. - The final conclusions and feedback should be easily found and usable in an e-environment where previous processes of par cipa on and their results should also be easily found. - Finally, everyone who par cipated has to be thanked for their input and, if there already exist new ideas for future processes of par cipa on, this is a good moment to introduce them briefly and mo vate everyone to par cipate once more.

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• Snow Shovelling Campaign, City of Tartu (Estonia)

Since in Estonia it is the homeowner’s responsibility to keep public sidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow and ice, previous campaigns have used warnings and ﬁnes. The aim of this campaign was to acknowledge and say thank you to the ci zens who have performed their du es remarkably well. It also aimed at drawing other ci zens’ a en on to this hard work and make them think about it.

The amount of feedback given on the website may also indicate that the younger genera on who are more ac ve in social media and do not visit the City website so o en are not that interested in daily maintenance problems. And the people who take an interest in the maintenance of streets and no ce these things thanks to their life experience may not en rely trust Facebook as a means of giving feedback.

Since there were rather few reports on Facebook, it can be assumed that social media (Facebook in this case) is regarded to be a less o cial channel than the City website. Facebook is rather seen as a place to express one’s support for the cause and express one’s opinions. As most feedback came through the City website, it can be inferred that people trust this site the most. The same trend can be observed about other instances of asking feedback from ci zens – there is much more feedback given on the website than through any other channels. Facebook is the place where people ac vely “like” di erent topics but rarely get involved in serious discussions.

• You should take into considera on the fact that social media is not perceived as an o cial informa on channel. It is rather seen as a place where you can show your sympathy and support. • In order to reach a younger target group, invita ons in the social media should di er from those published in other channels. These invita ons should address young people in their own language. • When you have to engage younger target groups, it might be worth your while to create an app that would appeal to young people.

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Some years ago, when there was much snow every winter, the City of Tartu introduced a new campaign. They called ci zens to let the City know of the people in their neighbourhood who always keep public sidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow and ice. This campaign became a tradi on and in 2012 it was held for the fourth me. 100 best homeowners were given a snow shovel and a thank-you-card from the City Government and the addresses of the houses were published in the media, on the o cial website of Tartu and on the city’s Facebook page. People could send reports either through the Tartu City website by using a simple feedback module, in the ’old-fashioned way‘ by calling the maintenance line or by leaving a comment on the Facebook page. All in all, 250 addresses were reported during the campaign. Most of the reports came through Tartu City website, whereas the maintenance telephone and Facebook (where it was adver sed twice) got equally few reports. On Facebook, people tended to praise the campaign instead of repor ng anyone and suggested giving the shovels to the people who did not keep the sidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow.

In 2010, Tartu City Government was planning to renew the City’s public buses and bus schedules and decided to invite residents to par cipate in preparing the procurement process.

The aim of par cipa on was to ask for people’s feedback on bus schedules and to o er them the opportunity to decide the visual design of the buses. The situa on deﬁnitely encouraged the use of e-par cipa on: there was heightened public interest as the topic ma ered to a large por on of the residents. There was also a clear need to renew the buses and, thus, the o cials were very willing to address the issue. Poli cal support for the project was clearly present as the promise to improve public transporta on had been a central one in the 2009 local elec ons. The element up for public discussion and determina on was the visual design of the buses which made the use of e-channels especially appropriate in this case.

The par cipa on process was ini ated at the same me in the local media (Tartu Pos mees) and on the City Government website: on 23 March, 2010 the newspaper published interviews with city o cials, bus schedules and pictures of the di erent designs. The same informa on was presented on the City website where people could express their opinion straight away. The published materials were also referred to in di erent press releases and on Facebook and Twi er. The public had 15 days to make sugges ons. Altogether, 233 sugges ons were made. The process was con nuously covered by Tartu Pos mees (new bus schedules, etc.). The next phase was to put the students’ visual designs to a vote and a new call was issued for people to par cipate on Twi er and Facebook and on the City website. Tartu Pos mees also published the new ini a ve: to vote on the visual solu ons. The public were given 14 days to vote. Altogether, there were 319 instances of feedback. As the result of the vote, the new buses in Tartu have a red design that can now be seen on the streets.

In the process of planning par cipa on, the aim was set to have as public a discussion about the quality of public transporta on as possible and to include as many di erent target groups (poli cians, private businesses involved in transporta on, city o cials, lecturers and students, etc) as possible. Another aim was to inform the public of the en re procurement process early on. The schedule, channels, etc. of the process were outlined in detail. The main e-channels for including residents were Facebook and Twi er. Likewise, a plan for communica ng with the media was prepared and the aim was set to have close coopera on with the newspaper Tartu Pos mees.

The messages in di erent communica on channels did not di er to a great extent but rather supported one another (an overview of the channels is given above). It is likely that par cipa on would have been even greater if Tartu Visitor Centre would also have been used as a central communica on partner (it could have been a place where people who do not use e-environments could have given feedback and voted).

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During the prepara on phase, di erent specialists in the City Government (the tra c service) were consulted thoroughly. The visual bus design solu ons were made by the students of the Tartu Art College.

In addi on to the fact that the par cipa on process led to choosing the visual design and using the feedback on developing new bus schedules, the following are important results and lessons in terms of e-par cipa on:

- the e-par cipa on process needed no addi onal funding. Even the local newspaper agreed to publish the informa on for free. Through the en re process, only about 15 days of addi onal work was needed;

- 8549 people showed an interest in and visited the page of bus schedules (233 expressed their opinion);

- a lesson for future Cityy projects p j was that theyy could have given more immediate and personal feedback to and thanked the par cipants; this could have mo vated higher involvement;

- 7046 people visited the page of the visual designs (319 expressed their opinion). These numbers show that a considerable por on of people have an interest in e-par cipa on;

- people are more ready to get involved in the so called lighter topics (the visual solu ons) than in more complex issues (bus schedules). This does not mean that par cipa on should be limited to the light topics but that complex ones need more extensive explana on and skill in order to create an interest in people.

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- the process proved that there is a need and a possibility to closely cooperate with local media; in the end, the aim of improving public transporta on in the City was a shared one;

The eCi zen II Best Prac ce Manual is online environment which operates as a pla orm where best prac ce cases and examples can be shared.

The registered user has the following set of func onal features in his/her hands:

The front page of the BPM is located at h p://epar cipa on.eu.

• To manage case studies.

• To create a case study. • To comment on other case studies.

A basic user who does not possess the required usercreden als can browse through the content of thesite, that is, through case studies and other addi onal sta cc content. The basic user can navigate the page by following the logical of steps or just search cases by topics or countries.

• To manage his/her account.

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For instruc ons how to add case-studies to the manual see video at h p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rvanL 4nUeU&feature=plcp (in Video channel of the Manual).