e-Participation Best Practice

Manual

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Par cipa on aims to provide ci zens and non-governmental organisa ons with the opportunityof par cipa ng in making decisions that a ectthem, and e-par cipa on is a means and oppor-tunity of doing this with the help of technology.This suggests that these terms cannot be sepa-rated from each other and e-par cipa on is onlyan addi onal method of substan ve involvementwhich means that the same principles of par cipa- on apply. S ll, with todays communica on habitsand skills, e-par cipa on is becoming the numberone form of par cipa on for many people.

E-par cipa on is, thus, an important challengefor local governments, an element that couldhelp signi cantly increase the transparency of governance and peoples par cipa on in organ-ising local life.

The local government can no longer just distributeinforma on about decisions on their website ci zens expect more. They have become accus-tomed to using the Internet and social media asa communica on environment and they have asimilar expecta on of the local government. Thedesire to par cipate in shaping ones living envi-ronment is perfectly understandable and welcome,and e-channels provide a suitable means for that. Our aim in compiling the e-Par cipa on Manualand the present guidelines that accompany it isto assist local governments in that and o er themsupport and advice in be er coping with new chal-lenges.

The main objec ve of the manual and the projectis to elaborate and exchange ci zens e-par cipa- on prac ces in order to increase and promotepar cipatory opportuni es within the EuropeanUnion member states.

The driving force behind the project is the growingconcern about democra c de cit in the society.As a result, state administra ons have started to strengthen par cipatory opportuni es andprerequisites for ci zen par cipa on in the polit-ical process. These include ini a ves, informa oncampaigns, pilot projects and various experiments.The projects have generated a wide selec on of tools for promo ng and safeguarding democracyin elds such as informa on provision, communi-ca on and interac on. S ll, there is li le veri edknowledge of the e ec veness of such projectsand of similar experiences in other EU member states. The present manual tries to ll this gap andpresent a collec on of cases which can be taken asmodels for ci zens and local public authori es inusing various e-democracy tools for par cipa on.

The prac cal presenta on of the best prac ceswhich is accompanied with an introduc on toevery 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 democ-racy issues. However, this material can hopefullyalso inspire the wider public, including representa- ves of civil society organiza ons.

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I The planning of par cipatory decision-making 4

1. STEP Background, Expecta ons 5

2. STEP Planning of the process 6

3. STEP Ac on:e-Par cipa on ac vi es 8

4. STEP - Communica on 10

5. STEP - Decision, Evalua on, Feedback 12

Case Study Preparing the City of Tartu Bus Procurement 14

II Guidelines for using e-Par cipa on Manuali 16

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The use of online environments in increasing communi-ca on with ci zens requires speci c ac ons that couldbe presented in ve steps. In this manual, each step is

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

Below, we give detailed descrip ons of each step andpresent a list of ques ons that should be answeredbefore beginning par cipatory decision-making. Inmany ways, the general mechanisms of e-par cipa- on are the same as those of tradi onal par cipa on,although the use of new communica on channels addsaddi onal nuances.

A er describing the ve steps necessary for par cipa- on, we explore the example of the public procurementof buses in the City of Tartu where e-par cipa on wasan important element in decision-making.

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BACKGROUND,EXPECTATIONS

PLANNING ACTION COMMUNICATION DECISION,EVALUATION,

FEEDBACK

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1. In which instances should residents be consultedbefore decision-making?

2. What is the aim of (e-)par cipa on: to get feedbackon the plans of the local government or generate newideas and sugges ons? What speci c goals should theprocess help achieve?

3. Do the organisa onal culture and work processesthat the local government has allow par cipa onprocesses to be conducted and e-par cipa on to beapplied successfully? What changes are necessary forthat?

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

- Par cipa on should not be limited to instances andissues in which it is required by law (e.g. in devel-opment plans). Par cipa on should be promoted inall issues that have to do with public interest. Priorto that, however, public interest needs to be de nedjointly. It is important to include people in processessuch as city centre planning or the building of a newbridge. Even topics that are of less relevance for thelocal government are important for the people. Thesetopics would be a good star ng point for learning toinclude both par es and for gaining experience inpar cipa on. For example, the residents of a citydistrict could be consulted when deciding where andwhich play ground should be built. In order to de nepublic interest, there should be close coopera on with the department of public rela ons or specialistas people are o en very interested in decisions that seemingly have only to do with the internal struc-tures of the local government. In small local govern-ments where there is no such dis nct departmentor specialist, o cials are recommended to jointlydiscuss the impact of di erent decisions on di erentresident groups with each new issue.

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

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of an average-sized street. In a small rural area eventhe 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 processesshould be distributed beforehand.

- It is not always necessary or possible to include awide circle of people. The circle could be small whenthe issue pertains to a very speci c area. However, very o en the ini al circle of people should be asbroad as possible in order to generate new ideas andnew approaches. Details could be speci ed later andalterna ves could be weighed by a small group of specialists.

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

- Another strong argument for par cipa on is thatby including people a ected by one or anotherdecision, later nega ve feedback can be avoided orat least mi gated. Furthermore, par cipa on notonly reduces the risk of cri cism but also the risk of mistakes and wrongful decisions.

- A competency centre within the organisa on isnecessary. This could be the department of publicrela ons or, in a small local government, a singleperson (public rela ons manager, developmentadviser etc.)

- Conduc ng an (e-)par cipa on process undoubtedlyrequires a willingness on behalf of the organisa onto change its work and decision-making processes inorder to become faster, more exible and open.

- If the nal decision is already made and par cipa onor 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 onlydamage the organisa ons rela onships with resident groups, not to men on their reputa on, making itdi cult to ini ate par cipa on in the future.

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o s ou d be o ed t e p a ed p ocess o1. Who should be involved in the planned process? Whoare the target groups whom the speci c ques onwould directly a ect? Who has expert knowledgein this eld? Who are the interest groups who couldhelp reach the target groups?

2. How can the target and interest groups be reached? Isit enough to distribute informa on via e-channels orshould other channels be used?

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

4. What are the rules of par cipa on? How will par ci-pants input be used and feedback given to them?Who makes the nal decision: the par cipants (forexample, through vo ng) or the local government?

5. How will e-par cipa on be organised technologi-cally? Which technologies will be used? Can theexis ng ones be used or should new ones be sought?Where will we nd them? Will we use freeware or willnecessary solu ons have to be ordered?

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

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

- From the very beginning, it is important to havespeci c 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 gure in decision-making and so on. It is important to repeat the rules in eachphase. Ideally, the rules should also be createdthrough inclusion and nego a on. The rules shouldaddi onally cover how disagreements will be solved(for instance, through taking a vote) and who makesthe nal 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.

- Although a set schedule and rules are very important,so too is exibility as various factors may forcechanges to the ini al plan. These should not greatly a ect the end result the manager of the par ci-pa on process has to know which methods work andbe prepared to change the methods or channels if theini al ones do not work.

- The key words in distribu ng informa on to thepar cipants of any process should be simplicity, concreteness, brevity, right slogans; no one will readlengthy documents at each phase.

- The planned pla orm for par cipa on has to bereliable and technically simple and user friendly.

- The ini al schedule should include addi onal mefor solving disagreements in the nal phase and, if a consensus cannot be reached, for repea ng somephases a er improvements.

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Use of online-channels for preparing a public trans-porta on procurement in Tartu, Municipality of Tartu (Estonia) see the case study presented on page14.

The future of Vejle, Municipality of Vejle (inDenmark)

www.vejlesfrem d.dk is an online dialog-portal whereci zens and the business-community can be part of developing new industrial policy. Through press andother channels the City of Vejle (which is situated inJutland and has about 50,000 residents) has encour-aged the local business-community to get involved inthe debate. The idea was ini ated by the communica- on department and the city manager.

Vejlesfrem d.dk is not only an idea box. It is also aportal where you can nd facts, analysis and informa- on about conferences and ac vi es related to indus-trial policy. This part of the portal is called the focuspart.

The portal has been made in an open source systemand created by the web design bureau Skybrud.dk incoopera on with the company Seismonaut. It has beenprogrammed in Umbraco.

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 topar cipate with their own vision or ideas or choose to i t ith th i i i id h tsolely read the comments and give votes.

Vejlesfrem d.dk has primarily been established for theindustrial policy-debate.

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

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

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Questions:

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

2. Are the o cials par cipa ng in the process aware of their tasks? Are we prepared for poten al changesduring the process (someone leaving the organi-sa on, falling ill, etc.)?

3. Which addi onal ac vi es should be foreseen inorder to support par cipatory decision-making?

- The organisers of par cipa on must rst of all outline

the factors that could be changed and the factorsthat could not be changed during the process so that me would not be spent on irrelevant and unrelatedproblems.

- It is very important that someone from the organi-sa on could always focus on the on-going par ci-pa on process so that it would not become anaddi onal task to be done when there is nothingbe er to do. This person has to be constantly availableto the par cipants for feedback and ques ons andthey have to update informa on in the par cipa onenvironment and answer ques ons.

- It is also important that other members of the organi-sa on are constantly kept informed of the e-par c-ipa on process. It is useful to create a par cipa onenvironment (on the Internet, in social media)where the en re process could be monitored (asbuilding informa on can be monitored on some localgovernment sites). Su cient understanding of theprocess would be enhanced by the use of graphicsdepic ng the current phase, ac ons completed andac ons that remain undone.

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

- Di erent methods and environments should be usedsimultaneously, because di erent target groupsmight respond to di erent channels (mee ngs, workgroups, online forums).

- Beginning with the very rst phases, it is important toestablish a method for recording all disagreements.

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

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

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

Valma complements the prac ce of representa vedemocracy in Tampere. The aim is to give people abe er chance to more directly par cipate in decision-making.

The Valma forum allows Tampere residents to expressopinions about issues in prepara on. Residents canhave a say in ma ers early and throughout the prepara-tory process. This makes public par cipa on an integralpart of the citys preparatory process.

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

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

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it puts items online for commentary, outlines theprocedure and tells the users when to act. It shows allrelated documents, processing informa on and GISdata. It sends the opinions submi ed to the preparatoryo cial and commi ee members and publishes theopinions, if the sender provides his/her contact infor-ma on. Opinions can be posted under a pen name.

it posts items by subject ma er. It posts the latest itemsand opinions on the front page. Those who becomed i i h f Th h bregistered users receive e-mails from Valma aboutissues they are interested in at their request.

The informa on is published alongside o cial datawhich means that the processing phase of the subjectma er, electronic documents and decisions can beviewed in the same electronic environment simultane-ously. There is a connec on to the GIS-service so thatValma-users can scope issues of interest. People canregister to Valma and subscribe to bulle ns on inter-es ng topics and areas.

Public consulta on and residents feedback is an inte-gral part of high-quality preparatory work. Valma o ersa complete and user-friendly approach to collec ngfeedback in very di erent cases.

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

In order to improve residents par cipa on, it is veryimportant to have poli cal and top-managementsupport.

Ci zens opinions should be gathered at the best suit-able me which means the sooner the be er. Long-las ng Valma inquiries are generally not necessary. Twoweeks is usually long enough. Ci zens par cipa on ispossible only if they are adequately informed about thepossibili es to par cipate. Informa on on Valma-issuesis made available in compliance with the usual commu-nica on prac ces of the City of Tampere. At least a pressrelease is wri en on each Valma-topic.

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

During the Valma project, working groups and work-shops 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.

- The development of resident par cipa on requires

enough resources.

- It is necessary to have a speci c member of theorganisa on in charge of arranging civic par cipa on.

- The commitment of the highest management levelwas important in the Valma development project, asit is in public par cipa on in general.

- In the implementa on phase, the most importantpartners were o cials from di erent parts of the citygovernment. At this phase, the coopera on with theCity Communica ons Unit became very important.Residents obviously need to know the par cipa onpossibili es before it is possible for them to par c-ipate.

- It is important for the preparatory process to clearlyspecify how the collected opinions will be used. Dowe want new perspec ves, to collect informa on andclarify various op ons or something else. This shouldalready be taken into account when deciding what and how to ask using services such as Valma.

- Giving residents early opportuni es to par cipate ispart of preparatory work and decision-making. It isimportant for city management, elected o cials andcivil servants to support the idea of promo ng par ci-pa on. Also, access to informa on is a basic condi onfor developing e-par cipa on.

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

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1. Which e-channels should be used to reach as many1 Which e channels should be used to reach as manypeople as possible? Which other channels should beused to inform residents of the par cipa on processand of the possibility to e-par cipate? Which channelwould allow us to most e ec vely reach the maintarget group of this speci c par cipa on process?

2. How can media be made to take an interest; how canwe become no ceable so that the media could beused to reach relevant target groups?

3. Are the messages and informa on we convey under-standable to the public?

- It would be reasonable to test the messages ondi erent groups to nd out if they are clear and invitepeople to read and listen and change their opinions.

- Complex informa on could be visualised (pictures,infographics, videos) on online environments; thiswill ensure interest in the informa on and a be erunderstanding and reten on of it.

- For the issue to draw enough media a en on, ithas to address many people (see above for publicinterest), present an interes ng point of view andpoint to connec ons and impact so that people couldiden fy with the issue and feel personally involved.

- It should be emphasised that it is always best to bethe rst to provide informa on to the media, evenin a situa on in which the message is not neces-sarily favourable to the local government. Honestyand willingness to cooperate engenders a be errela onship with the media as well as a more under-standing and coopera ve a tude from all groups.

- Not everyone are or plan to be on social mediasites, so it is important for the local government tocooperate with local media.

- At the same me, social media is an excellent pla ormfor quick and exible communica on and localgovernments should treat it as an o cial channel forpar cipa on and distribu ng informa on.

- It is important to clearly de ne who will representthe local government in certain areas. Media prefersexperts 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 bythe organisa on (through di erent o cials) not be contradictory. This is especially vital in crises.

- Opera ng in social media undeniably challengesthe whole organisa onal culture and exis ng workprocesses. In order to cope with that challenge, itis necessary to previously agree upon (and, ideally, formulate clearly) a set of rules for the o cials to followon social media. There are numerous ques ons: willthe Facebook page, Twi er and YouTube accounts be only updated by the department of public rela onsor the public rela ons adviser? Or should each o cialhave the obliga on to present issues and respond toques ons related to their eld? Or should that be the case with only certain o cials (if so, who)? How o enshould o cials visit the local governments Facebookpage? Should the o cials have an individual account for this purpose or should they be allowed to raiseissues and answer ques ons related to the city and municipality life under their personal accounts aswell? Each local government should discuss theseques ons in their internal structures, because the work processes and organisa onal culture are verydi erent in di erent local governments.

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

- The role of social media should be viewed morebroadly than just as a channel for exchanging infor-ma on and having a dialogue. As the example belowon the prepara on of the par cipa on processas a social media campaign in the City of Tartu busprocurement project reveals, this channel makes itpossible for the local governments to successfully conduct online consulta on and reach a nal decisionthrough a par cipatory process.

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

Odense Municipality planned to create a Facebookaccount in order to distribute cultural informa onand ini ate discussions related to culture. Theyd d l d l hwere hesitant in the beginning and not absolutelycertain as to how the account would be managedand how residents would respond to the ini a ve.The sugges on was made to buy the service from aresident who was well-versed in the local cultural lifeand a fan of Facebook. The local government ini atestopics but tries to keep a low pro le and the pagedoes not adver se that it is the local governmentsFacebook account. Rather, the local governmentmakes a conscious choice to let the users believethat it is an environment by residents for residentsdue to the fear that the more typical users of socialmedia might consider the so-called o cial page of thegovernment boring. The municipality itself claims thatif the page has enough visitors and content and theygain enough experience, they are perfectly willing tofully manage the account themselves. At the same me, they agree that as the current manager is notan o cial, they can use a more informal style and

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

Informing ci zens on par cipa on possibili esf i i i ibilithrough a Facebook page, City of Tampere (Finland)

The service of local democracy in the City of Tamperecreated a page on Facebook focusing speci cally onpar cipa on. On that page, all on-going par cipa on processes, ques onnaires and the work of the youthparliament were e ec vely mediated to the public. The main reason for this was the feeling that despiteTamperes long experience in par cipa on peoples 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 speci c callto par cipate would be lost. They did ini ally fearan onslaught of nega ve comments but s ll allowedall users to freely comment, ask ques ons and so on. Their experience shows that there is no need tofear nega ve comments, but the biggest di culty isconvincing people to par cipate.

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

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1. How will the nal decision be made if the process hasresulted in numerous disagreements?

2. How will we communicate and explain our decision?Do we have su cient arguments for the decision (andcounter arguments for those who disagreed)?

3. Was the ini al plan realised? What was altered andwhy? If something failed, then why did this happen?

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

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- When making the nal decision in the light of di erentopinions, solu ons, plans and so forth it is important to once more discuss the impact of each decision onthe 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.

- It is important not to neglect the people involvedonce you have the desired result (a decision, input) from the process. The par cipants have to be told the nal decision and the reasons for it, and you have tobe ready to explain in detail why all di erent opinions could not be taken into account. Personal feedback iso en needed in order to avoid con icts. You also haveto be prepared to communicate over a period of mewith the people who have di erent opinions.

- It is crucial to remember that par cipa on cannot beallowed to lead to indecision. The process of par ci-pa on has to have a result. Reaching a compromisebetween par es is important but it should not be anend onto itself. It is important to focus on the maingoal.

- It is important to collect the impressions andassessment of all par cipants (including the depart-ments 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 futureprocesses.

- It is necessary to be honest and cri cal in assessingthe ini al plan, the ac ons taken and the actualoutcome. If there was failure, it needs to be explainedand the speci c reasons for it have to be made public.

- The nal conclusions and feedback should beeasily found and usable in an e-environment where previous processes of par cipa on and their resultsshould also be easily found.

- Finally, everyone who par cipated has to be thankedfor their input and, if there already exist new ideasfor future processes of par cipa on, this is a goodmoment to introduce them brie y and mo vate everyone to par cipate once more.

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Snow Shovelling Campaign, City of Tartu (Estonia)

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 peoplein their neighbourhood who always keep publicsidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow andsidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow andice. This campaign became a tradi on and in 2012 itwas held for the fourth me. 100 best homeownerswere given a snow shovel and a thank-you-cardfrom the City Government and the addresses of thehouses were published in the media, on the o cialwebsite of Tartu and on the citys Facebook page.People could send reports either through the TartuCity website by using a simple feedback module, inthe old-fashioned way by calling the maintenanceline 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 TartuCity website, whereas the maintenance telephoneand Facebook (where it was adver sed twice) gotequally few reports. On Facebook, people tended topraise the campaign instead of repor ng anyone andsuggested giving the shovels to the people who didnot keep the sidewalks in front of their homes clearof snow.

Since in Estonia it is the homeowners responsibility tokeep public sidewalks in front of their homes clear of snow and ice, previous campaigns have used warningsand nes. The aim of this campaign was to acknowledgeand say thank you to the ci zens who have performedtheir du es remarkably well. It also aimed at drawingother ci zens a en on to this hard work and makethem think about it.

Since there were rather few reports on Facebook, it canbe assumed that social media (Facebook in this case)is regarded to be a less o cial channel than the Citywebsite. Facebook is rather seen as a place to expressones support for the cause and express ones opin-ions. 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 instancesof asking feedback from ci zens there is much morefeedback given on the website than through any otherchannels. Facebook is the place where people ac velylike di erent topics but rarely get involved in seriousdiscussions.

The amount of feedback given on the website may alsoindicate that the younger genera on who are moreac ve in social media and do not visit the City websiteso o en are not that interested in daily maintenanceproblems. And the people who take an interest in themaintenance of streets and no ce these things thanksto their life experience may not en rely trust Facebookas a means of giving feedback.

You should take into considera on the fact that social

media is not perceived as an o cial informa onchannel. It is rather seen as a place where you canshow 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 addressyoung 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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In 2010, Tartu City Government was planning to renewthe Citys public buses and bus schedules and decidedto invite residents to par cipate in preparing theprocurement process.

The aim of par cipa on was to ask for peoples feedbackon bus schedules and to o er them the opportunityto decide the visual design of the buses. The situa onde nitely encouraged the use of e-par cipa on: therewas heightened public interest as the topic ma ered toa large por on of the residents. There was also a clearneed to renew the buses and, thus, the o cials werevery willing to address the issue. Poli cal support for theproject was clearly present as the promise to improvepublic transporta on had been a central one in the 2009local elec ons. The element up for public discussion anddetermina on was the visual design of the buses whichmade the use of e-channels especially appropriate inthis case.

In the process of planning par cipa on, the aim wasset to have as public a discussion about the quality of public transporta on as possible and to include as manydi erent target groups (poli cians, private businessesinvolved in transporta on, city o cials, lecturers andstudents, etc) as possible. Another aim was to informthe public of the en re procurement process earlyon. The schedule, channels, etc. of the process wereoutlined in detail. The main e-channels for includingresidents were Facebook and Twi er. Likewise, a planfor communica ng with the media was prepared andthe aim was set to have close coopera on with thenewspaper Tartu Pos mees.

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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.

The par cipa on process was ini ated at the same mein the local media (Tartu Pos mees) and on the City Government website: on 23 March, 2010 the news-paper published interviews with city o cials, bus sched-ules and pictures of the di erent designs. The sameinforma on was presented on the City website wherepeople 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 publichad 15 days to make sugges ons. Altogether, 233sugges 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 designsto a vote and a new call was issued for people to par ci-pate on Twi er and Facebook and on the City website.Tartu Pos mees also published the new ini a ve: tovote on the visual solu ons. The public were given 14days to vote. Altogether, there were 319 instances of feedback. As the result of the vote, the new buses inTartu have a red design that can now be seen on thestreets.

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 greaterif Tartu Visitor Centre would also have been used as a central communica on partner (it could have been aplace where people who do not use e-environmentscould have given feedback and voted).

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

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

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

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

- 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;

y p j y- a lesson for future City projects was that they could have given more immediate and personal feedbackto and thanked the par cipants; this could havemo vated higher involvement;

- people are more ready to get involved in the socalled lighter topics (the visual solu ons) than inmore 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 extensiveexplana on and skill in order to create an interest inpeople.

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

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

A basic user who does not possess the required user-creden als can browse through the content of thesite,that is, through case studies and other addi onalsta cc content. The basic user can navigate the pageby following the logical of steps or just search cases bytopics or countries.

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

To create a case study.

To manage case studies.

To comment on other case studies.

To manage his/her account.

For instruc ons how to add case-studies to the manualsee video at h p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rvanL4nUeU&feature=plcp (in Video channel of the Manual).