Useful links

European Citizens' Initiative

  • The European Commission's European citizens' initiative website is the main source for complete and up-to-date information about the European citizens' initiative, its legal setup and all the past and ongoing campaigns with reference to Commission's follow-up where action was taken.
  • The ECI Forum is an online collaborative platform operated by the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) on behalf of and under contract to the European Commission. It offers multiple services to ECI organisers and stakeholders, such as consultation and legal advice, information webinars, networking opportunities, blog and discussion forums.
  • The European Citizen Action Service (ECAS) is a Brussels-based non-profit organisation with the mission to empower citizens to exercise their rights in the EU. The organisation is split into two focus groups: 1. EU Rights; and 2. EU Democracy. ECAS implements its mission by promoting and defending citizens' rights and by developing and supporting mechanisms to increase citizens' and citizen organisations' democratic participation in, and engagement with, the EU. Contact: elisa.lironi@ecas.org and vasiliki.mustakis@ecas.org.
  • The ECI Campaign is an organisation working exclusively for the successful introduction and implementation of the European Citizens' Initiative, offering information resources as well as campaigning support. Contact: berg@citizens-initiative.eu
  • Democracy International is a global, non-governmental organisation that advocates for more direct democracy and citizens' participation in decision-making, and strives to make governments across all levels more accountable. It supports democracy activists in building campaigns and organisations and shares knowledge and legal expertise on direct democracy and processes for citizens' participation. Contact: vancic@democracy-international.org
  • The Bertelsmann Stiftung is a private foundation that develops and initiates all of its projects itself, providing the support required for their implementation. It engages solely and directly in non-profit activities. The foundation's goal is an equitable society defined by democratic values, stable economic conditions and social integration. As a result, it is committed to helping people participate in our globalised world. Contact: christian.huesmann@bertelsmann-stiftung.de, and stefan.roch@bertelsmann-stiftung.de.

Participatory Democracy

  • The European Parliament's Citizens' App is a mobile application dedicated to citizenship, EU legislation and citizens' rights. The app is searchable, shareable and personalisable; it provides information on topics and locations of interest to you and updates you on their progress, informs you about events taking place near you, and offers multimedia content such as videos, podcasts and slideshows. Contact: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en/contact
  • The United Nations have launched the idea of the World Citizens' Initiative (UNWCI). If a certain number of global citizens endorse a citizen-launched initiative, UN bodies such as the General Assembly or the Security Council have to put the item on their agenda and give the floor to representatives of the initiative to make their case. In the case of the General Assembly, this could be done during the annual general debate while heads of state and government are present. A UNWCI would allow global citizens to have more impact in a world with growing dilemmas that require global cooperation from both states and citizens alike. It will help create a citizen-based global political sphere. Contact: hello@worldcitizensinitiative.org
  • The OECD has launched a new Medium publication focusing on work on innovative citizen participation: Participo. It is a digital space for exchange between public servants, practitioners, researchers, academics, and designers about innovative citizen participation and the future of democracy more broadly. It offers blogs and updates about OECD research, related events, and interviews with experts.
  • The Direct Democracy Navigator at the University of Wuppertal gathers and analyses data on procedures and practices in modern direct democracy worldwide. It offers advice, training and teaching and hosts online resources. Contact: editor@direct-democracy-navigator.org
  • The Bertelsmann Stiftung publication "Under Construction: Citizen Participation in the European Union" gives a good overview of all citizen participation instruments available in the EU.
  • A growing number of governmental entities across Europe are investing in the establishment of support infrastructure for active citizenship and participatory democracy, offering guidance on how to make your voice heard. A network of regional and local governments has been established. Contact: Fabian.Reidinger@stm.bwl.de

Citizens and journalism

  • Euractiv links active European citizenship with professional online journalism and offers stories, opinions, analysis and background information on everything going on politically across Europe, in three languages: English, French and German. Contact: fondateur@euractiv.com
  • #deardemocracy is a growing worldwide community of media professionals hosted by Swissinfo.ch, the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Company, offering news, opinions and background for active citizenship and participatory democracy globally, in 10 languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian and Japanese. Contact: Renat.Kuenzi@swissinfo.ch