TI BiH presented POPULUS: digital platform for citizens’ participation in public debate
With the idea of promoting a culture of transparency and active citizenship and the goal of developing relations between local authorities and citizens, TI BIH developed and presented the POPULUS digital platform.
30 August 2022
Banja Luka, 30/08/2022: The participation of citizens in the process of making decisions concerning their daily lives represents the essence of democracy as a partnership between citizens and authorities. With the idea of promoting a culture of transparency and active citizenship and the goal of developing relations between local authorities and citizens, TI BIH, with the financial support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, he developed a digital platform that was presented today at the conference ” You are not just a letter on paper – participation in public discussion at the local level through the POPULUS platform” .
The key results of cooperation with the cities of Lukavac, Goražde and Bijeljina, the Brčko District Government, the Municipality of Novi Travnik and the Municipality of Foča were presented at the conference, which in the previous period improved communication with citizens through the digital platform POPULUS and made decision-making processes in local communities more transparent.
Ernest Imamović, the mayor of Goražde, one of the 6 local self-government units that introduced the POPULUS digital platform, pointed out that: ” The POPULUS platform enables discourse and two-way communication about everyday problems – from landscaping to replacing public lighting bulbs in neighborhoods.”
Igor Ćurčić, representative of the Municipality of Foča, pointed out that such projects are inevitable for the functioning of public authorities, and that the POPULUS platform should be further developed and promoted, precisely for the purpose of solving problems in the community.
The POPULUS platform itself is integrated into the websites of local governments in these 6 local communities and consists of three parts: e-information (with information for citizens about the work of local municipalities ), e-consultation (documents and proposals of municipal and city assemblies/councils, with space for citizens to give comments, proposals and suggestions) and e-voting (special issues related to the work of local authorities of particular importance to citizens).
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which supported this project, Jan Waltmans pointed out that the use of digital tools and technologies can improve processes, and enables citizens to ask questions, and that the platform should be a promise that they will receive an answer to them within a reasonable time.
The chairman of the TI BIH Board of Directors, Srđan Blagovčanin , pointed out that: ” The level of Internet penetration in BiH is 90% and citizens expect that local self-government units and other bodies follow the trend of technology development.”
The POPULUS platform is available in all units of local self-governments, and TI BIH called on the authorities in other local communities to adopt it and thus improve the participation of citizens in public debates and decision-making processes.
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