City to network with influential Europeans
13/11/08
Aberdeen City Council will welcome key representatives from several European local authorities and academic institutions when it plays host to the Demos Network conference from Thursday, 13 November to Saturday, 15 November, 2008.
The Demos Network is a learning network based on the several European local authorities and academic institutions which was previously part of the Demos Project.
It aims to find the best ways of making public services more accessible to citizens in their communities and to finding ways of involving citizens in decisions about their own areas.
During their stay members of the Demos Network group will visit the new Woodside integrated facility (still under construction) and the Station House Media Unit to see first hand the council’s commitment to neighbourhood planning.
As host this year the council will present its work and benefit from constructive feedback, discussion and comparison with the other members.
The Demos Project was originally a European Social Fund project which provided start up funding for the City Council’s Citizens Panel and Youth Information Project (now Dialogue Youth). Since the end of the funded project members have maintained contact through the network which meets annually.
Aberdeen City Council has been a leading member of the Demos Network (and the preceding Demos Project) and this has informed the development of community engagement and neighbourhood planning.
More importantly it has been a source of learning, across several European cities, about local democracy, citizen participation and local service delivery. Members involved in similar developments to Aberdeen are Antwerp, Utrecht and Edinburgh - the other members are Krakow & Turku.
Leader of Aberdeen City Council, Kate Dean said: “Being a leading member of the Demos Network provides a clear potential for continued learning with the support of city and academic partners who are leaders in the field of community participation and local governance in Europe.”
If you have any queries regarding this, or any other news story, please contact Aberdeen City Council on: 01224 522000.
