ActiveNGO Dubrovnik actively participating in 2019 Bologna Summit on Citizen Engagement

During the first day of the Summit participants learned about and examined citizen engagement approaches and projects while exploring opportunities to adopt new approaches in their cities. Through this journey with citizen engagement initiatives ActiveNGO was presented as one of the projects where city of Dubrovnik is actively engaged in. Discussions among city representatives were highly active and interesting since there were representatives from the USA and Columbia to over 10 different EU countries, but only to conclude that majority of cities worldwide face similar challenges when it comes to citizen engagement initiatives.

The second day of the Summit was marked by the study visit tours on 4 key engagement sites in the City of Bologna. On a topic of sustainable mobility and innovative use of public spaces DYNAMO – La velostazione was visited – a place that unites cyclists and culture while advocating for sustainable mobility. Following Dynamo, project Incredibol! was presented. It is a public contest that provides funds, consulting services and the rent-free use of city-owned property to creative startups, small businesses and citizen-led organizations. All Summit participants had an opportunity to visit two Incredibol! financed projects – Kilowatt-Le Serre dei Giardini Margherita and Mercato Sonato as an initiative of Orchestra Senza Spine.

After intensive two day Summit a deep discussion took place where ideas, different approaches and tools that could elevate our citizen engagement work were identified.