Elena Sánchez‐Nielsen and Carolina Martín‐Vázquez
2. The Puzzled by Policy e‐Participation project
Puzzled by Policy( PbP) aims to reduce the complexity of decision making within the EU and reconnect citizens with decision makers and policy making, through the PbP online platform( http:// join. puzzledbypolicy. eu /), to bring policy making closer to citizens on the hot topic of immigration( Lee 2011). PbP involves four pilots in four EU countries: Spain, Italy, Greece, and Hungary. In the case of Spain, the integration of immigrants and social cohesion is one of the most important challenges facing Spanish society related to immigration policy.
The PbP platform consists of three components( Lee 2012):( 1) The PbP Policy Profiler is a Web based tool giving users the opportunity to find out about their preferences within the policy field of immigration;( 2) The PbP uDebate is a multilingual, pan‐European, deliberation forum, where users can view, discuss and share ideas on immigration policy; and 3) The PbP Widget enables the viral distribution of the platform throughout the Web.
In particular, the PbP udebate tool is focused on the use of a deliberation model. This model is implemented through deliberative discussion threads, where the posts of each thread are classified as an Issue, Alternative, Pro Argument, Con Argument or Comment. While all discussions are public, only registered PbP users may contribute to the discussion. This is to promote the accountability and transparency of posts. Every discussion is annotated as European or national, so that discussions can be browsed and merged accordingly.
In January 2012, Tenerife’ s public authorities, civil society leaders and community representatives launched an e‐participation initiative with a view to fostering social cohesion and community bonds in two culturally diverse neighborhoods:( 1) El Fraile in the Arona municipality in the South of the Island, and( 2) Taco in the La Laguna municipality in the North of the Island. The idea arose from the cooperation between the European Puzzled by Policy project, and the Spanish regional project“ Juntos En la misma dirección”( Together in the same direction) with the aim of encouraging urban dwellers to participate in shaping migration policies through the PbP platform. Both municipalities have a vibrant migration history and the need to re‐consider their human and cultural diversity as a resource rather than equating it with problems and conflicts. This initiative quickly earned the interest of mayors, representatives of the different stakeholders, associations of neighbors, and immigrants from Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Uruguay and Colombia, as well as, public authorities, such as the Arona Municipal Council, La Laguna Municipal Council, the Department of External Affairs and the Immigration Observatory of Tenerife.
The policy framework proposed for this initiative was based on a process of consensus and participation of all the immigrants, non‐immigrants, stakeholders and decision makers in order to identify the key aspects to be addressed, to provide best practices and build future plans for integration and policies in these local municipalities. To accomplish these aims, first, the Policy Profiler Web based tool was used to give people the opportunity to find out about their preferences within the policy field of immigration. Second, the uDebate tool was used as a deliberation forum, where users could view, discuss, and share ideas on European immigration policy, and more specifically on Spanish immigration policies. As a result, the goal was to work with citizens to opine, and then with policy makers to make them aware of the views of citizens with the purpose of taking these views into account when defining public policies in the areas of integration and social cohesion in these two local municipalities. It should be noted that this methodology could be applied to any other local municipality and policy to be debated.
Although online discussion tools can be designed and used in ways that significantly enhance the quality of discussion and decision‐making, a great deal of effort is required to engage citizens in policy‐making. The use of ICT for e‐participation in PbP can be considered as a silver bullet; however, the experience gained from the PbP platform has shown that ICT alone cannot address the political, cultural and social barriers to participation. In this context, the AI model is a key factor that can help to vitalize participation in a realistic and achievable setting, through social constructive dialogue and progressive engagement.
In the following sections, firstly, the theoretical rationale for the use of the AI model is addressed. Secondly, the appreciative methodology is described.
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