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Local e-democracy projects

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This is a draft list of local "e-democracy" projects and initiatives for print distribution at the first International Symposium on Local E-Democracy in July, 2005.

This directory is focused on non-partisan/non-advocacy online projects/features organised by governments or non-profit/community organisations designed to improve democracy and citizen engagement.

Please add e-activism or media sites to the everyday citizens or citizen journalism online directory pages. To help us edit a printable product, scan our projects page adjust appropriate listings for the directory.

Please Edit this page to add projects. Add them alphabetically by site name.

  • Ask Bristol
    • Web: http://askbristol.org
    • Place: Bristol, England, UK
    • Host Organisation: Bristol City Council
    • Host Type: Government
    • Project Description: Results of surveys and consultations are passed on to managers, senior officers, elected councillors and may also appear in the media.
    • Dates: 2004 - current
    • Contact Name: Carol Hayward
  • Bürgerhaushalt Emsdetten- Participatory Budget
    • Web: http://www.emsdetten.de/buergerhaushalt/steuergelder.php
    • Place: Emsdetten, north-west Germany
    • Host Organisation:
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description:Emsdetten is a German example where participants concentrated on online information, with less emphasis placed on online dialogue.
  • Cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody
    • Web: http://www.citysoup.ca
    • Place: Coquitlam and Port Moody , British Columbia. Canada
    • Host Organisation:Cities of Coquitlam and Port Moody
    • Host Type: Municipal Government/Federal Government Funding
    • Project Description:The website citysoup.ca is an information and services gateway to the communities of Port Moody and Coquitlam.
    • Top Lessons: The website documentation reveals that it "supplied a variety of eBooking, eRegistration and eCommerce tools to the municipalities, contained over 1,000 pages of information and generated more than 300 community calendar listings each month."
    • Dates:June 2003
    • Additional Info/Links:

View a short video about eCommunities and citysoup.net http://meta.insinc.com/citysoup_meta/soup.asx

Creating a Citizen-Centric eCommunity - Lessons Learned From citysoup.ca http://www.citysoup.net/NR/rdonlyres/AAD9EE2A-DE74-4B82-A56F-E066DED6E79E/30551/CreatingaCitizencentriceCommunity.pdf

  • Ciudadanos2005.net
    • Web: http://www.ciudadanos2005.net
    • Place: Spain
    • Host Organisation: Europa Press
    • Host Type: Press Agency
    • Project Description: Each spanish municipallity can create an 'account' at Ciudadanos2005.net. When a town has Its account, then parties, elected officials, civil organizations or citizens can write suggestions or proposals for any question related to their town. In some cases, a suggestion has received sufficient suppport to be considered by the mayor as a new policy to be implemented.
    • Top Lessons: eDemocraccy needs easy and usable ways to participate
    • Dates: 2005
    • Contact Name: Jaime Estévez
    • Contact E-mail: contacto@ciudadanos2005.net
    • Additional Info/Links:
  • e-Community Councils
    • Web: http://www.ecommunitycouncil.org.uk/
    • Place: Central Scotland, UK
    • Host Organisation: 6 Community Councils/ The project is funded by the Scottish Executive and involves the International Teledemocracy Centre, Stirling Council, the Association of Community Councils for the Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park area, Stirling Assembly and the Association of Scottish Community Councils.
    • Host Type: Government
    • Project Description: The project aims to support Community Councils by developing and testing a suite of e-democracy tools. These address needs for ‘internal’ collaboration and for the local community to contribute to a 'public' site.
    • Top Lessons: to be reported at end of project
    • Dates: Feb 04 - Jan 06
    • Contact Name: Danae Shell
    • Contact E-mail: itc@napier.ac.uk
    • Additional Info/Links: www.teledemocracy.org


  • Highland Youth Voice
    • Web: http://www.highlandyouthvoice.org/home.asp
    • Place: Highland Region, Scotland, UK
    • Host Organisation: International Teledemocracy Centre for Highland Youth Voice
    • Host Type: Research
    • Project Description: e-democracy website for youth parliament. The website includes discussion fora, election support (including an e-voting system) and a content management system. The parliament members (i.e. young people) are involved in the design.
    • Top Lessons: Young people like things simple too. Everybody likes a certain amount of fun - even in e-democracy.
    • Dates: 2000 - current
    • Contact Name: Ella Smith
    • Contact E-mail: e.smith@napier.ac.uk
    • Additional Info/Links: http://itc.napier.ac.uk/ITC/projectSummaries.asp#Project9
  • Kingston e-Petitions
    • Web: http://epetitions.kingston.gov.uk
    • Place: Kingston upon Thames, England, UK
    • Host Organisation: Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
    • Host Type: Government
    • Project Description: "This e-petitions service allows you to support a petition by adding your name and address online. Information about the petition topic is provided, to put the petition in context and help you decide whether to support it. You can also see who else has supported the petition (name and area only) or join in a discussion about it online."
  • Lancashire County Council-Cllr. Tony Martin
    • Web:http://www.councillor.info/lancashire/tmartin/5984/Default.aspx
    • Place: Lancashire County, United Kingdom
    • Host Organisation:Lancashire County Council/Poptel Technology
    • Host Type:Municipal Government
    • Project Description:Lancashire has been webcasting for three years. This is its first direct broadcast from an elected official. It is part of the Councillor.info project/product which provides a website for every member.
    • Top Lessons:The video was captured by cameras used for the webcasting of meetings and events and is deliberately a straight-to-camera address rather than an interview in a more "produced" setting.
    • Contact Name:Councillor Tony Martin
    • Additional Info/Links:

Welcome to Lancashire County Council's webcast page http://www.lancashire.ukcouncil.net/

  • Lancashire County Council SMS
    • Web:http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/environment/sms/index.asp
    • Place:Lancashire County, United Kingdom
    • Host Organisation:Lancashire County Council
    • Host Type:
    • Project Description:A new SMS scheme allows citizens to receive services via their mobile phone. Subscribers give their views about key issues facing the authority and its citizens.
    • Top Lessons:The results of each consultation are posted online with continued opportunity to people to vote on issues highlighted in previous months.


  • Minnesota House of Representatives
    • Web: http://ww3.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/housemembers.asp
    • Place: Saint Paul, Minnesota. United States(USA)
    • Host Organisation: Minnesota House of Representatives
    • Host Type: State level Government
    • Project Description:The Minnesota House broadcasts legislative hearings and floor sessions over television and the Internet.
  • National Election Commission, South Korea
    • Web:http://vote2004.nec.go.kr/vote/mobile/ (includes flash animation with sound)
    • Place: Seoul, South Korea
    • Host Organisation: The National Election Commission
    • Host Type: National Government level
    • Project Description: A special service that encouraged people with SMS and picture phones to report any election law violations that they witness.
    • Top Lessons:The website includes an animation which clearly explains the concept.
  • Our Brisbane
    • Web: http://www.ourbrisbane.com/
    • Place: Brisbane, Country/State
    • Host Organisation: Brisbane city council
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description:A Brisbane city council initiative created for citizens to inform them of an array of activities, services and organisations in Brisbane, Australia.
    • Top Lessons:This site is an excellent example of what can be accomplished by a combination of both lifestyle and government services.
    • Dates: Start date - current/end date
    • Contact Name:Anne Foley
    • Contact E-mail:Anna.Foley@team.ourbrisbane.com
    • Additional Info/Links:

Our Brisbane Promotional Material http://www.ourbrisbane.com/about/ourbrisbanecom.pdf

UN Preliminary Case Study: Brisbane, Australia http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan008856.pdf

Paid Search Clicks at ourbrisbane.com (Commercial Case Study) http://www.decide-interactive.com/case-studies.html

  • Participative budget Issy-les Moulineaux, France:
    • Web: http://www.issy.com/
    • Place: Issy-Les Moulineaux, France (FRA)
    • Host Organisation:
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description:
    • Top Lessons:Using this tool, Issy-les Moulineaux launched two more initiatives in 2002.
    • Dates: Start date: 1997 to Current
    • Additional Info/Links:

Issy and electronic democracy (sept 2002) http://www.issy.com/Dossiers.cfm?Esp=1&Rub=19&SRub=121&dossier=269&article=1622

The Citizen Panel, the new tool for participative democracy http://www.issy.com/Dossiers.cfm?Esp=1&Rub=19&SRub=121&dossier=269&article=1623

  • Porto Alegre Orçamento Participativo
    • Web: http://www2.portoalegre.rs.gov.br/op/
    • Place: Porto Alegre, Brazil
    • Host Organisation: Porto Alegre City Council
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description:The participatory budget of Porto Alegre is the oldest, on-going major project in this field. People participate through face-to-face interaction and the internet.
  • President of the Philippines SMS
    • Web:http://www.op.gov.ph/txtgma.asp
    • Place: Philippines
    • Host Organization: Office of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
    • Host Type: Head of State
    • Project Description:SMS is widely viewed as a key tool in the citizen protests which led to the removal of former President Estrada when the Philippine Senate declined to impeach him for illegal behaviour.
    • Top Lessons:Texting currently outnumbers voice calls 8 to 1 in the Philippines.
    • Dates: Election 2004
    • Contact Name:
    • Contact E-mail:
    • Additional Info/Links:

Office of the President http://www.op.gov.ph/

  • Queensland Government- Get involved with Government

Web:http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/index.html

    • Place:Queensland, Australia
    • Host Organisation: Community Engagement Division/ Department of Communities
    • Host Type:State Government/Internal department
    • Project Description:This is an extensive site dedicated to the practice of E-democracy. Citizens have easy access to learning about the role of government and being able to participate in the process.
    • Top Lessons: According to the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance, 23 e-petitions have been lodged with the Queensland Parliament and more than 7,500 signatures collected.
    • Dates: 2002- present
    • Contact Name: Tim Goodwin
    • Contact E-mail: tim.goodwin@premiers.qld.gov.au
    • Alternative Contact:

Fergus Hogarth Manager, E-democracy Policy Strategic Policy Directorate Department of Communities fergus.hogarth@communities.qld.gov.au

    • Additional Info/Links:

eDemocracy - The Role of the Internet in Engaging with Queenslanders -http://www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au/share_your_knowledge/documents/pdf/fs_01_roleinternet.pdf

How to be involved:Draft South East Queensland Regional Plan-http://www.oum.qld.gov.au/?id=241

E-Petitions:A trial of online petitioning-http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/EPetitions_QLD/HTML/InformationBrochure.pdf

  • Seattle-Your Government
    • Web:http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/html/CITIZEN/your.htm**Place: Seattle, Washington. United States (USA)
    • Host Organisation: City of Seattle/Seattle Channel
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description: the E-democracy initative is an award-winning program that strives to engage citizens above and beyond a service model.
    • Top Lessons: The Seattle Channel statistics state that 70 percent of people with cable television have watched the city's channel, up from 58 percent in 1999.
    • Dates: Start date - current/end date
    • Contact Name: Rona Zevin
    • Contact E-mail:rona.zevin@seattle.gov
    • Additional Info/Links:

New Elements of Democracy-http://www.seattle.gov/scec/documents/SCEC_Complete_Final_Report.pdf

Seattle Channel: (Learn about the station and website)A 12 minute overview of the Seattle Channel mission, programs, and website.-http://www2.ci.seattle.wa.us/Media/ram_sc.asp?ID=2456

  • The Scottish Parliament
    • Web:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/msp/membersPages/index.htm
    • Place: Edinburgh, Scotland
    • Host Organisation: The Scottish Parliament
    • Host Type: Parliamentary Level
    • Project Description:The site provides online video clips for each Memember of the Scottish Parliament(MSP)** Top Lessons: Created a direct connection to the videos rather than having to visit each member’s own website


  • Vancouver- Citizens Participate
    • Web:http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/publicprocess/citizens.htm
    • Place: Vancouver, British Columbia. Canada (CAN)
    • Host Organisation: City of Vancouver City Council
    • Host Type: Municipal Government
    • Project Description:As a result of research between 1996 and 1998, the city council of Vancouver adopted a strong focus on public participation in the decision- making process.
    • Top Lessons:The municipal council has partnered with a community television station to co-produce an information show available online that gives context to the municipal policy decisions directly affecting citizens’ lives.
    • Last Known Contact Name:Nancy Largent
    • Contact E-mail:nancy_largent@city.vancouver.bc.ca
    • Additional Info/Links:

Public Involvment in municipal Priority Setting:The City of Vancouver's Public Involvment Review-http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/publicprocess/pdf/Benefits.pdf

City of Vancouver Public Process Guide – Short Version http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/publicprocess/pdf/publicprocess.pdf

GVTV is a video series about the issues, people and ideas that have an impact on the Greater Vancouver region-http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/Greaterdot_wa/index.cfm?fuseaction=GVTV.listVideos

  • Wellington Community Network
    • Web: http://www.wcn.net.nz
    • Place: Wellington, New Zealand
    • Host Organisation: This is a partnership created through the Wellington city council, the Wellington library system and the Wellington 2020 trust.
    • Host Type: Municipal Government level
    • Project Description:WCN is an electronic community network that provides website hosting, training and support to community groups and not-for-profit organisations in the Wellington region.
    • Top Lessons: sharing information and which will expand opportunities for citizen involvement in decision-making.
    • Contact Name:Tim Jordan
    • Contact E-mail:support@wcn.net.nz
    • Additional Info/Links:http://www.warecorp.com

Connecting Communities Conference Booklet http://www.ceg.govt.nz/initiatives/docs/cc-conf-report.pdf

  • Gatheroo
    • Web: http://www.gatheroo.com
    • Place: Minneapolis, MN
    • Host Organisation: Gatheroo.com
    • Host Type: Privately funded LLC
    • Project Description: Gatheroo.com is a for profit business created to address the need for free community organizing tools. The company was precipitated by MeetUp.com's decision to charge each of its groups for continued use of its tools. We are developing the new website in partnership with CivicSpace. Eventually, Gatheroo will go beyond simply organizing a meeting to facilitating the creation of sustainable interest-driven communities that will eventually be supported by a fabric of group-centered services - shopping, travel, job searching, networking, dating, hobbies and cause-driven grassroots organization. We are incorporating the concept of "Tagging" (http://del.icio.us/, http://www.flickr.com, http://www.43things.com, etc.) to create a deeply connected community of users.
    • Top Lessons: More will be revealed!
    • Dates: Start: 07/04/05
    • Contact Name: Chris Dykstra
    • Contact E-mail: Chris.dykstra@gatheroo.com
    • Additional Info/Links: http://tinyurl.com/7bgy9
  • Build a Statewide Technology Team
    • Web: http://www.dfltech.org (account required)
    • Place: Minneapolis, MN
    • Host Organisation: Democratic Farmer Labor Party
    • Host Type: Political party
    • Project Description: To create a framework for making good technology decisions in one a large, unwieldy, grassroots political organization - and then implement them. We started by bringing together over 100 unit-level leaders from across the state to discuss their most pressing requirements. We consolidated the results on a wiki and formalized them in a set of connected, party-wide usecases. We then produced a set of top technology recommendations. Currently we are at work implementing a statewide content management system that will support a connected universe of 200+ commonly branded unit-level websites. We now have a funcitoning team of 10-15 technology professionals, 20-30 writers and 5-10 artists. Our statewide team is connected via a groupserver implementation.
    • Top Lessons: Drive organizational change via audience-focused requirements from the bottom up.
    • Dates: We started in February of 2004. No end in sight.
    • Contact Name: Chris Dykstra
    • Contact E-mail: chris.dykstra@warecorp.com
    • Additional Info/Links:http://www.warecorp.com

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