What is Ampliando Democracia

ABOUT OUR PROJECT

Ampliando Democracia is a project dedicated to fostering reflection on how to improve governance, public policies, and democratic quality through deeper, more inclusive, and more robust citizen participation. The outcomes of this initiative will be presented to public decision-makers as proposals to integrate citizen participation into public policy design and decision-making processes. It is an open and participatory project led by Political Watch and Deliberativa.

The aim of Ampliando Democracia is to ensure that new and innovative forms of participation —already thriving internationally and in our own regions and local entities— become equally established at the central state level in Spain. We also aim to increase demands for better functionality, inclusivity, transparency, and accountability in existing participation mechanisms and tools.

We acknowledge the extensive experience that many organisations and groups bring to these issues, and we aim to harness every bit of knowledge, innovation, and collective wisdom in this field. We prioritise sharing lessons learned, regardless of the outcome, rather than focusing solely on success stories.For all these reasons, we want to promote Ampliando Democracia in a collective and collaborative way, fostering alliances and synergies while incorporating as many contributions and perspectives as possible.

Objectives of Ampliando Democracia

Map and disseminate key advancements and innovations in citizen participation at the local, national, and international levels, as well as processes that create opportunities to share and amplify these findings.

Create spaces for collaboration, discussion, and debate to exchange knowledge, ideas, and experiences on participatory and deliberative processes in public decision-making and policy development.

Build a broad and diverse alliance of organisations, groups, social movements, and individuals who share a sense of urgency and opportunity to move towards more democratic, inclusive, effective, and socially transformative governance.

Develop and channel proposals to improve and innovate citizen participation, ensuring they are presented to public authorities with the goal of institutionalising them.