The role of the Internet in public participation The road to e-democracy Paul Andor Farkas Managing Director
Mar 30, 2015
The role of the Internet in public participation
The road to e-democracy
Paul Andor FarkasManaging Director
The key to e-democracy: collaboration…
Agencies NGOsOther
partners
Multiple partners are needed for a
complete solution
My experiences in involving the public in environmental decision-making
Project Leader - WWF Austria’s Central Danubian Park ProgramResearcher - Florida State Conflict Resolution ConsortiumSenior Outreach Specialist/Environmental Planner - URS CorporationProject Manager – InfoLink ProjectManaging Director – Synthesis-NET LLC
E-democracy in practice
Service provided to the public
Agencies pool resources & information
Influential factors
Political environment
Transparency
Budgets
Planning
Leadership
Stakeholders
Technology
Innovation
Overcoming obstacles
• Within the bureaucracy– Understand interests– Build coalitions, motivate players– Demonstration projects– Communicate and train
• Political level– Lobbying– Explore funding opportunities
• External entities– Increase awareness and involvement– Forge partnerships– Address fears
The history of the InfoLink
• 1997 - Reflex Environment Protection Society and several local partners launched an environmental information service on the teletext pages of the local cable channel – the InfoLink is born.
• 2000 – Supported by the Partnership Foundation, Reflex and several Slovak and Hungarian partner organizations migrated the teletext service to the Internet.
• 2001 – The partners expanded the InfoLink portal’s content and functionality through support from the Phare Access 2000 Program.
• 2003 – The InfoLink becomes the official environmental information repository of the West Pannon Regional Development Council.
• 2004 – The North Hungarian Regional Environmental Authorities secure support from the Phare CBC Program to expand the InfoLink into Austria.
• 2005 – Several firms sign collaborative agreements with the growing list of InfoLink partners (Pannon-Víz, Philips, Kommszol, stb.)
• Establish a comprehensive regional environmental information system.
• Collect and make information on the state the environment accessable to the public in a format that they can understand.
• Involve various local and regional actors in a dialogue on environmental and regional development issues.
The goals of the InfoLink
Local and international NGOsEnvironmental agenciesNational Park directorates Local government associationsUtility service providersCompaniesRegional development organizationsInstitutions of higher learning
The InfoLink Partners
Document and event management…
The InfoLink’s components
Weblog forum…
The InfoLink’s components
Environmental database…
The InfoLink’s components
Web mapping service…
The InfoLink’s components