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Activities of the Centre for Deliberation in 2018 – summary

Activities of the Centre for Deliberation in 2018 – summary

Direction of activities – internationalization, development of cooperation with research centers in Germany and the United States

Projects / grants :

  1. “In Dialogue – from knowledge to decision”

Project financed by the University Technology Transfer Center of the University of Warsaw, “Incubator of Innovation +” project (Ministry of Science and Higher Education ); Implementation June 2017 – February 2018

The aim of the project was to prepare an implementation version of the inDialogue software , test it in terms of compliance with legal requirements (e.g. the use of personal data) and WCAG 2.0. The software was prepared in two versions: for public administration and for other users (adaptation of nomenclature).

An agreement was signed for the implementation of the inDialogue software by the Marshal’s Office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship in 53 communes in Mazovia.

  1. Support for the Marshal’s Office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship

A support point for the Marshal’s Office of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship was launched in order to implement the wDialog software in Mazowsze. Mariusz Wieczorek, a doctoral student of IS UW, was employed for the purpose of supporting the UMWM in the project.

  1. Micro-grant of the Vice-Rector for Science of the University of Warsaw “Internationalization of the results of the In Dialog project (inDialogue software , a model of deliberative social consultations implemented by software) leading to the implementation of leading international projects and positioning the University of Warsaw among universities-innovators in the field of social computing.”

The purpose of the grant was to prepare information and promotional materials in English and to present the wDialog software on the international arena, as well as to discuss its use in cooperation with foreign partners.

  1. Confirmation of receiving a grant from the Polish-German Foundation for Science for the implementation of the project entitled “Citizen participation in local government: European norms of deliberation and their importance for public consultations in Germany and Poland”; Implementation May 2019-April 2020.

We received a grant from the Polish-German Foundation for Science and started preparations for its implementation in cooperation with a partner from Germany – Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf – Düsseldorfer Institute for Internet and Democracies (DIID) . The aim of the project is to examine the importance of values and norms specific to the model of deliberation, to which the European Union institutions refer in their documents, for the activities of local governments carrying out tasks related to social consultations in Germany and Poland. In particular, we will be interested in the comparative aspect of practices in German and Polish offices and the factors shaping them.

5 . Preparation for implementation project ” InDialogue for Inclusive Decision-making in Local Government”. Implementation June 2019 – December 2020.

The preparation of the project is carried out in cooperation between the Center for Deliberation at the Institute of Sociology of the University of Warsaw and the City Hall of Longmeadow , MA, in the United States. More than a dozen researchers are involved in the project, including five researchers from Stanford University. The project has been in preparation since June 2018. It was initiated by a webinar organized at the University of Warsaw with the use of a grant from the Vice-Rector for Science of the University of Warsaw, and was developed during the stay of Dr. Anna Przybylska, head of CD IS UW, at Stanford University as part of the Kościuszko Foundation scholarship. By the end of 2018, the research framework and project schedule were prepared, a research team was formed, and a grant application was submitted under the Miniatura competition to the National Science Center. During the study, we will try to determine how a local government with a long tradition of direct participation of citizens in decision-making relates to online tools for planning and implementing city meetings; how the local government relates to the model of operation implemented by IT tools, in which the following play an important role: knowledge sharing and deliberation; how IT tools intervene in communication practices and what are the advantages and disadvantages of their use; what factors will be important for the possible implementation of the wDialogue software in Longmeadow and how researchers can help in adapting them in the work of the local government.

  1. Preparation for submitting a grant application in the Horizon 2020 competition “METIS. Multilevel Experiments on Trust & Inclusion Solutions” , leader: CES (Center for Social Studies ) – University of Coimbra, Portugal. Partners: University of Warsaw, University of Dusseldorf, University of Milan, Open University of Catalonia, OECD Trustlab . Subject area of the project: “Trust in governance “. Application deadline: March 14, 2019.

Seminars, workshops

  1. Workshop in cooperation with the Representation of the European Commission “Use of social consultations by village heads and village heads”, April 18, 2018.

The aim of the workshop was to provide village leaders with knowledge and skills to use the mechanism of social consultations in the local government. During the meeting, the most important issues related to public consultations were discussed. It was defined in which matters and circumstances it is worth conducting social consultations, as well as how to use their results for the benefit of the community of residents. The IT software wDialog was presented .

  1. Webinar , ” InDialogue software – features, functions and use in public consultations”, June 11, 2016.

wDialog IT software were presented in English . The outcome of the webinar was a formal proposal by the City of Longmeadow , MA in the United States to pilot the use of wDialogue software during a public consultation in June 2019. The City of Longmeadow has a system of direct democracy and a long tradition of civic meetings on matters of key importance to the city, followed by a binding vote on projects.

  1. Establishing contact with the Kettering Foundation and participating in the Deliberative event run by the Foundation Democracy Institute, July 9-13, 2018, Dayton OH, United States

Dr. Anna Przybylska presented the wDialogue software and took part in workshops and discussions on deliberation techniques and their application in public institutions. Two members

  1. Seminar ” ICT solutions for public consultations: the inDialogue platform”, November 15, 2018.

wDialogue IT software were presented in English in terms of the involvement of Stanford University employees in a study on its pilot use during public consultations in Longmeadow , MA. Five researchers from Stanford University applied for the project.

  1. Webinar ” InDialogue for Inclusive Decision-making in Local Government” conducted from the headquarters University Stanford , December 18

The aim of the webinar, in which, apart from researchers from Stanford University, participated researchers from several other American universities and from the Kettering Foundation, was to discuss the assumptions of the pilot study, which will concern the use of the wDialogue software in Longmeadow, MA.