Policy Networks: How Global SolutionNetworks are Reshaping Global Decision-Making
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Habitat Jam: A Digital Brainstorm on Urban Sustainability The notion that the Canadian government would consult with individuals and stakeholders on a global basis using the Internet represented a big change for the conventional policy community. After all, in most countries and most international organizations, policymaking is a top-down process and it conforms to national boundaries. Politicians study issues, seek counsel from a select group of advisors, deliberate and enact laws on the population’s behalf. Most citizens are on the periphery, playing no role other than casting a ballot every few years. Fontana envisioned a different kind of democratic experiment all together. Partnering with IBM and the UN Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), the Canadian Government decided to take the conversation about urban sustainability issues to the streets on a global scale. The idea was to bring thousands of participants from government, business, academia and civil society together for a 72 hour facilitated online discussion where they could strategize around how to provide access to clean water and sanitation, boost environmental sustainability and improve local governance in the world’s rapidly growing metropolitan regions.
Traffic congestion is among the issues discussed by participants in Habitat Jam.1
Š Global Solution Networks 2014