Preparation

All that is needed for preparation is a PC, smartphone and an Internet connection to look up information from the Internet.

Lecture on the topic of e-participation. The lecture should explain the following keywords:

• Participation
• Digital participation
• Political participation
• Online initiatives/online platforms/online petitions

The worksheets serve as additional support and inspiration.

Method / Process description

The participants are given the task of familiarizing themselves with the possibilities of eParticipation. A short input on the topic of eParticipation is given as an introduction. The focus should be on the various possibilities of eParticipation. Afterwards, each participant, alone or in groups, will create information on the following topics: 

• How can citizens initiate a petition, campaign or initiative on local, national but also global concerns? (Participants can find information on this at www.change.org).
• How can citizens actively support European citizenship? (Information on this can be found at https://ecit-foundation.eu).

This exercise involves the preparation of a handout clarifying the following questions: 

www.change.org:

• What does Change.org stand for?
• How many people use this platform
• What campaigns have been initiated through change.org?
• How can I start a petition?
• On which topics can I start a petition?
• Write a short guide: Important elements of a good campaign (info can be found at https://changeverein.org/kampagnentraining/).

www.ecit-foundation.eu:

• What does the ECIT Foundation stand for?
• What initiatives has the ECIT Foundation supported?
• Find out how many people in your country have already supported this initiative at https://ecit-foundation.eu/voters-without-borders. 
• Go to ECI https://europa.eu/citizens-initiative/select-language?destination=/home to find out what initiatives are currently underway. Describe three initiatives and find out how you too can participate in such initiatives.

Afterwards, the participants have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge with the "fish bowl" method and to expand their knowledge in this regard. The participants should first draw their own conclusions from their observations. 

For the "fish bowl" method, 4 - 7 people (depending on the total number of participants in the class) are selected to sit together in an armchair circle. Everyone else sits in one or more armchair circles around this circle and may only follow the discussion of these people as listeners, but if they want to join in the discussion, they can go to the inner circle and join in.

This can be arranged as follows:

A: One chair in the inner circle remains unoccupied to allow inputs from outside.

B: The person who wants to participate stands behind a person in the inner circle. This person is then allowed to finish what he or she is doing and must then give way to the new person.

On the internet you can find many variations of the "fisch bowl method", which of course can be adapted and implemented. The duration of the execution can be estimated for about 30 to 60 minutes.

Possible questions for the fisch bowl round: 

• Why is e-participation or participation in socially relevant topics in general very important?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of e-participation? Which population groups are excluded by it?
• To what extent do social media contribute to accelerating eParticipation? 
• eParticipation does not depend solely on access to digital media. What other factors influence people's participation behavior?

Download material

Worksheet: Launching online initiatives yourself & participating in online initiatives

References

• XWiki
• XWiki Extensions