What is CitizenScape?

CitizenScape is a few different things which we can hopefully explain here:

• It’s part of (and supported by) the EU eParticipation Preparatory Action. The work you see here has been 75% funded by the European Commission in order to help explore ways in which new web technologies can help citizens get more involved with local decision making. You can find out more about the project (and the other partners) here
• It’s new technology. The CitizenScape site has been built using ‘Web 2.0’ technology which means that content can be drawn from different websites and shown together and also means that the idea of user contributions is very much part of the whole website. The ‘widget’ approach in the layout is something you will be starting to see in commercial websites and we are very pleased to be using it here to support local democracy. You can find out more about the technology used here by contacting the technical partners in the project; Public-i
• It’s an idea about how to get Local Authorities and Citizens talking. CitizenScape sites use this new technology to bring together content from both sides of the conversation rather than just the council’s point of view. Each of the widgets is designed to suggest to people ways in which they may want to get more involved and to give feedback on the discussion and the process and part of the project methodology is to work with Citizens and Councils to make sure that we nurture these conversations. Our aim is to create a shared civic space – like an online town hall – where citizens and councils can talk through the important decisions that need to be made. This sounds very ambitious and it is!

This project depends on the feedback and contributions of lots of people – we hope you will be one of them either by joining the discussion here on the site or by emailing us your comments and thoughts on our approach at citizenscape@bristol.gov.uk. We will be publishing updates and results so let us know if you want to hear how we are getting on.