RADIcal urBANity. For Inclusive and High-Quality Citizen Participation

“Citizen participation processes are spaces for interaction between public institutions and society, designed to facilitate deliberation on public policies. At the same time, they are educational tools in their own right and important spaces for building active citizenship.

Achieving high-quality deliberation requires ensuring the inclusion of all social groups and providing them with meaningful access to knowledge about the issues under discussion. Yet participants are often excluded from the debate due to a lack of familiarity with key concepts, limited understanding of technical constraints, or the use of overly specialized language.

For this reason, it is essential to strengthen civic education by providing citizens with knowledge and critical thinking tools, while also supporting participants in gaining a deeper understanding of the specific topics addressed in each process. Only in this way can everyone engage in informed deliberation on equal terms, contribute with well-founded arguments, and take part in shaping and improving their environment. At the same time, this approach helps foster a more critical, informed, and engaged citizenry.

The question is how this civic empowerment can be encouraged—and whether there is genuine interest in promoting it broadly.”