Local Democracy in the Post-COVID-19 Era

How has the participation of citizens in democratic processes changed today, when face-to-face meetings are not possible? What new forms of collaboration between citizens and local governments are most topical in the context of the COVID-19 crisis? What role do associations of local and regional governments play in reinforcing democracy under the current circumstances? These and other issues were discussed by the participants of the UCLG online webinar “Local Democracy in the Post-COVID-19 Era” that was held on the Zoom platform on June 18, 2020.

The participants of this webinar included Secretary General of UCLG Emilia Saiz, UCLG Co-President and Mayor of San Jose (Costa Rica) Johnny Araya, Vice-Mayor of Barcelona (Spain) Laia Bonet, President of SALGA Thembisile Nkadimeng and others.

UCLG-Eurasia was represented by Secretary General Rasikh Sagitov, Chairman of the Public Chamber of Nizhny Novgorod Gennady Ryabov, Vice-Mayor of Kazan Evgenia Lodvigova, Head of the Department of International and Intermunicipal Relations of the Kazan Municipality Ruslan Galiakhmetov, Deputy Head of the Department of Investment Policy and Foreign Economic Relations of the Administration of Nizhny Novgorod Anna Chirkina, etc.

Chairman of the Public Chamber of Nizhny Novgorod Gennady Ryabov presented the project “City in Touch» aimed at raising awareness of citizens, helping them to receive credible information from reliable sources and obtain answers to the most pressing issues. “Being in self-isolation, Nizhny Novgorod residents are forced to pass through a huge flow of information every day. Messengers, social networks, and official media are full of news about coronavirus. And it is not always possible to understand everything and find answers to questions for yourself. In this regard, the Public Chamber of Nizhny Novgorod decided to launch a social online project for citizens “City in Touch”. For two months of self-isolation, we have held 12 online conferences with the participation of representatives of the government, departments, services and public organizations. Topics of conferences have been defined on the basis of questions received from citizens”, Gennady Ryabov highlighted in his report.

Over 150 representatives of local and regional governments from all over the world, representatives of public organizations, international experts, etc. took part in this event.

18.06.2020

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