The European Institute on Public Participation has published together with the Bertelsmann Foundation a systematic comparison of public participation models used in poilcy-making (pdf, in German). In particular the study focuses on large-scale deliberative models and how they are used by whom. These models include everything from Appreciative Inquiry to Participatory Budgeting to Future Workshops.
The handbook is intended for policy-makers, pracitioners of public participation and researchers. It explicitly follows a systematic, though application-oriented approach. This helps to compare the remit and merit of each model. They are analysed according to …

Patrizia Nanz, co-founder of EIPP, was invited to take part in a panel discussion broadcast live on German television. Other participants were Horst Seehofer, prime minister of Bavaria, Hans-Werner Sinn, director of the Ifo institute for Economic Research, Matthias Horx, futurist and researcher and Daniel Dettling, author.
The panel discussed ways to learn from the current economic crisis and find new, sustainable ways of living together. Partizia emphasised the contribution public participation can make to a better future. She highlighted the strengths of citizen engagement, the potential of a collective wisdom.
Pictures …

The Citizens’ Forum is a new form of participation developed by the Bertelsmann Foundation, the Ludwig-Erhard Foundation and the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation. It is a 6-8 week online deliberation embedded in two live events, one at the beginning of the process and the other one at the end. A new article on Participedia describes the second edition of the Citizens’ Forum Europe.
Between November 2008 and June 2009, 361 randomly selected German residents participated in this innovative process of online-deliberation. They formed a Citizens’ Forum with eight committees (each with circa …

The National Coalition for Dialogue & Deliberation has recently published, in a collaborative effort with other organisations, seven Core Principles for Public Participation.
As you can see on the website of the PEP project they are very useful, not only for organisers of public participation, but also for evaluators, as they provide yardsticks against which participation processes can be evaluated.
The Seven Core Principles
1. Planning and Preparation – Plan, design, and convene the engagement specifically to serve both the purpose of the effort and the needs of …

+++ UPDATE (13.07.09): the original text of the Sole 24 Ore article has been added +++
This is one of the primary intentions of our work at the EIPP – making sure that citizens’ voices are heard and listened to in policy-making. Crucial in that regard is, however, that the broader public debate also engages with public participation, its concepts and potentials. We participate in that debate.
Our recent contributions in the run up to the European elections – but also beyond – are articles on ZEIT online (German) and in …