Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EUCOMMEET (Developing Participatory Spaces using a Multi-stage, Multi-level, Multi-mode, Multi-lingual, Dynamic Deliberative approach (M4D2))
Période du rapport: 2021-03-01 au 2022-02-28
The EuComMeet project aims at breaking new theoretical, empirical, and technological grounds to design effective deliberative processes to strengthen liberal representative democracy.To do so, EUComMeet experiments with ways of systematically embedding deliberative practices and institutions in the multilevel system of governance and representation of the European Union. This pragmatic approach is complemented by the theoretical and empirical exploration of the conditions by which deliberation and participation can help reduce polarisation, strengthen European identity, encourage inclusiveness and citizens’ reflectivity, and narrow the representative gap between policymakers and citizens. To address these goals, EUComMeet brings together a ten-partner consortium composed of leading academic experts of democratic theory and organisations with expertise in the development and sharing of participatory technologies and vast experience in the design, management, and analysis of deliberative and participatory practices in Europe. The research builds upon a three-stage proactive approach: Lessons Learned, to understand the difficulties of participatory and deliberative approaches by combining insights from theoretical and empirical research; Fill the gap, to improve deliberative practices based on the lessons learned and to design innovative deliberative spaces; and Make it Happen, which is the implementation of deliberative events based on the proposed design and the methodological and theoretical approaches refined over the first two phases.
The research activity in the first year of the project focused on a systematic analysis of deliberative events, participants, and observers. The re-analysis of the Europolis database is now completed, while both the documentation of relevant European cases using the Participedia platform and the observers’ survey of selected cases are at an advanced stage, with a first release of data already available. Based on the results gathered so far, EuComMeet is also extracting lessons to inform the design of the project’s deliberative events. As part of the Lessons Learned activity, a pilot survey to Spanish political elites has unveiled methodological challenges and will provide effective guidance for a substantive study of politicians’ opinions and preferences towards deliberative processes.
Alongside the theoretical effort, the EuComMeet consortium effectively engaged in developing an online participatory space. This activity relies upon an in-depth inventory of the digital tools for deliberation that allowed EuComMeet’s researchers to make informed decisions concerning the layout and the technological and functional characteristics of the participatory space. This activity builds on an interdisciplinary approach that brings together social scientists, software developers, and computational linguistics, in order to build a platform that meets the theoretical requirements for a inclusive, knowledge-based, and engaging deliberation online.
The ADAPT centre at DCU is at a very advanced stage in the development and testing of the speech translation model. The accession of a technological partner (Nethood) and the conceptual work carried out by UNISI have made it possible to initiate the development and testing of the synchronous and asynchronous components of the Participatory Spaces and to start the process of identifying and selecting the features of the automated moderation. Nethood and the ADAPT centre are already working on integrating speech translation, which is now at an advanced stage, into the platform and the tool for automated moderation, which is currently being designed.
The Participatory Spaces will be tested in pilot events in schools and universities, including with people with disabilities, in 10 cities from five countries. The consortium, with the support of the third-party Collegio Carlo Alberto (CCA) is significantly involved in the organisation and research design of this pilot event, which will take place in Fall 2022.
The “Make it Happen” stage will set up a series of deliberative events at the local, national, and European levels that integrate the innovative design and technologies developed in the “Fill the gap” stage. The consortium has already maximised the work done for organising the pilot under WP2. For instance, activities have been undertaken concerning participant’s recruitment, the drafting of the briefing material, and the development of the methodology of moderation.
Besides the research activity, the consortium is increasingly garnering the interest of some cities, whose administrations have expressed their intention to participate in the EuComMeet deliberative processes and to actively cooperate on its design; this represents a key achievement and opens further opportunities of societal and policy impact.
Alongside the theoretical effort, the EuComMeet consortium effectively engaged in developing an online participatory space. This activity relies upon an in-depth inventory of the digital tools for deliberation that allowed EuComMeet’s researchers to make informed decisions concerning the layout and the technological and functional characteristics of the participatory space. This activity builds on an interdisciplinary approach that brings together social scientists, software developers, and computational linguistics, in order to build a platform that meets the theoretical requirements for a inclusive, knowledge-based, and engaging deliberation online.
The ADAPT centre at DCU is at a very advanced stage in the development and testing of the speech translation model. The accession of a technological partner (Nethood) and the conceptual work carried out by UNISI have made it possible to initiate the development and testing of the synchronous and asynchronous components of the Participatory Spaces and to start the process of identifying and selecting the features of the automated moderation. Nethood and the ADAPT centre are already working on integrating speech translation, which is now at an advanced stage, into the platform and the tool for automated moderation, which is currently being designed.
The Participatory Spaces will be tested in pilot events in schools and universities, including with people with disabilities, in 10 cities from five countries. The consortium, with the support of the third-party Collegio Carlo Alberto (CCA) is significantly involved in the organisation and research design of this pilot event, which will take place in Fall 2022.
The “Make it Happen” stage will set up a series of deliberative events at the local, national, and European levels that integrate the innovative design and technologies developed in the “Fill the gap” stage. The consortium has already maximised the work done for organising the pilot under WP2. For instance, activities have been undertaken concerning participant’s recruitment, the drafting of the briefing material, and the development of the methodology of moderation.
Besides the research activity, the consortium is increasingly garnering the interest of some cities, whose administrations have expressed their intention to participate in the EuComMeet deliberative processes and to actively cooperate on its design; this represents a key achievement and opens further opportunities of societal and policy impact.
EuComMeet is an evolving project that is already moving beyond its set goals.
During the first year of activity, the consortium mostly focused on the development of theoretical basis for the design of the Participatory Spaces by exploring under which conditions deliberation and participation can help reduce polarisation, strengthen European identity, encourage inclusiveness and citizens’ reflectivity, and narrow the representative gap between policymakers and citizens. Before proceeding with the experimental design, however, a review of the relevant literature was key to identify existing theories, competing arguments, but also likely gaps that the project could help fill. This endeavour was carried out both individually by the partners responsible for each dimension, and collectively, with the setting up of a systematic review on empirical deliberative research.
EuComMeet is also setting the stage to experiment with ways of systematically embedding deliberative practices and institutions in the multilevel system of governance and representation of the European Union. To do so, the project adopted a proactive research strategy aimed at understanding strengths and weaknesses of deliberation to develop methodological solutions to improve the democratic practice. In more detail, in the first year of activity EuComMeet has been collecting and analysing data on past and current deliberative processes to help develop new deliberative instruments which may turn be useful for the project’s objectives of designing an online deliberative space.
Confronted with scenarios based on different combinations of tools and services with deep and diverse implications for potential openness, usability, sustainability, and control over data, the consortium decided to opt for a maximisation of free/libre open-source software (F/LOSS) tools via the reuse and adaptation of existing, production-mature tools, prioritising those with the highest degree of customisability, and limited licensing costs. The development of an original and customised F/LOSS tool for the automated moderation enhances the ethical and social scope of the project, by further developing technologies that will be made available to the community. This is in line with the initial commitment to extend as far as possible the degree of openness of EuComMeet’s software and practices. This will increase the accessibility of the knowledge generated by the project, as well as the long-term sustainability and usability of the Participatory Space and related technologies.
During the first year of activity, the consortium mostly focused on the development of theoretical basis for the design of the Participatory Spaces by exploring under which conditions deliberation and participation can help reduce polarisation, strengthen European identity, encourage inclusiveness and citizens’ reflectivity, and narrow the representative gap between policymakers and citizens. Before proceeding with the experimental design, however, a review of the relevant literature was key to identify existing theories, competing arguments, but also likely gaps that the project could help fill. This endeavour was carried out both individually by the partners responsible for each dimension, and collectively, with the setting up of a systematic review on empirical deliberative research.
EuComMeet is also setting the stage to experiment with ways of systematically embedding deliberative practices and institutions in the multilevel system of governance and representation of the European Union. To do so, the project adopted a proactive research strategy aimed at understanding strengths and weaknesses of deliberation to develop methodological solutions to improve the democratic practice. In more detail, in the first year of activity EuComMeet has been collecting and analysing data on past and current deliberative processes to help develop new deliberative instruments which may turn be useful for the project’s objectives of designing an online deliberative space.
Confronted with scenarios based on different combinations of tools and services with deep and diverse implications for potential openness, usability, sustainability, and control over data, the consortium decided to opt for a maximisation of free/libre open-source software (F/LOSS) tools via the reuse and adaptation of existing, production-mature tools, prioritising those with the highest degree of customisability, and limited licensing costs. The development of an original and customised F/LOSS tool for the automated moderation enhances the ethical and social scope of the project, by further developing technologies that will be made available to the community. This is in line with the initial commitment to extend as far as possible the degree of openness of EuComMeet’s software and practices. This will increase the accessibility of the knowledge generated by the project, as well as the long-term sustainability and usability of the Participatory Space and related technologies.