ddNetwork

The Federation of Municipality of Madrid is leading a European initiative that will run until September 2021, called: Support for the Democratic Union and Active Citizenship in the Digital Age within the European Europe for Citizens program. The FMM gets the second position among the 18 funded and among the more than 80 presented at European level (Europe Program for Citizens Chapter 2 Measure 2.2 Networks of cities Selection Year 2019 Round1).

 

The FMM coordinates the project and the actions that are developed and executed in the 14 countries that make up this Digital Network. Participating entities include a group of local, regional and NGO authorities from 14 EU-Spain countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Sweden, Italy, Belgium, Romania, France, Croatia, Latvia, Serbia and Macedonia The DIGITAL Project will run from September 2019 to September 2021 and, among many other actions, 5 international events are held in different countries from among the participating partners. The first international event took place last week in the municipality of Penne, in the region of Pescara in Italy, and was attended by the President of the FMM, Gullermo Hita Téllez, of the General Secretary of the FMM, Cristina Moreno, of the General Technical Coordinator, José Barcia and of the Coordinator of European Projects, Gosia Wochowsca.

 

The main objective of the project is to provide local and regional European policy-makers and citizens with tools to support civic participation in the era of digital culture. The project activities focus on the following needs: 1. Help legislators and citizens to navigate safely in the digital media environment, with the main themes being the impact of digital culture on democracy and media and information literacy as critical elements in good governance. 2. Increased social resistance to propaganda and the mobilization of counter forces, the main themes being: the European and local elections in the digital age and the false news and disinformation spread online in the local and EU elections. 3. Stimulate civic engagement through the media, the main themes being: innovative ways to participate in political processes: electronic consultation, electronic policy making and digital communities; and strengthen the digital divide and political participation in the future.

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​The result of the project activities will be an association capable of designing and disseminating guidelines on digital policy design, a puzzle that is lacking in the concept of European citizenship. We expect a 60% increase in volunteering and almost 600 people directly involved. Through dissemination, the project will reach around 35,000 people. Among the results expected mid-term, we highlight the following: 1. European exchange of policy solutions and new tools that support civic citizen participation in order to strengthen the capacity of local policy makers. 2. More digital interaction between legislators and citizens involved. 3. Contribution of the 14 partners to the EU digital policy, to the EU e-government plan 2016-2020, to the EU Digital Skills Agenda and to other tools that facilitate electronic participation and electronic decision-making. 4. Increased knowledge of EU initiatives that strengthen active European citizenship: the basis for long-term transnational cooperation in this area between citizens, CSOs and local authorities in 14 countries. 5. Among the results that we expect in the long term, we highlight the following: a) Improved electronic participation in the European and local policy-making processes of policy-makers and citizens. b) Increased social resistance to disinformation and propaganda in the face of European and local elections.