Joint Webinar of Civic Engagement was held within the scope of the KATILIYORUZ Program, which is jointly carried out by United Cities and Local Governments Middle East and West Asia Section (UCLG-MEWA) and NDI Turkey on 5 May 2021. In the webinar organized with the contributions of the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (IOPD) to showcase best civic engagement practices from the perspective of local leaders, Pedro Palacios, Mayor of Cuenca in Ecuador; Pilar Diaz, Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat in Spain; and Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen in Morocco were among the webinar’s speakers.
During the event which took place following the UCLG-MEWA Executive Bureau Meeting, Pilar Diaz, Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat, was the first speaker to take the floor. “Digital engagement and digital channels is an opportunity to make better policies using available data, however, we must think about the risks of who manages and owns all the data,” said Diaz.
After the Mayor of Esplugues de Llobregat in Spain, Pedro Palacios, Mayor of Cuenca in Ecuador made his presentation. During his presentation, Mayor Palacios highlighted that Cuenca’s participatory budgeting is an effective mechanism for territorial redistribution within the municipality and a way to engage citizens in local development and environmental resilience.
Lastly, Mohamed Sefiani, Mayor of Chefchaouen in Morocco, took the floor, explaining that the local development strategy with a focus on ecological and cultural tourism has been implemented through dialogue with civil society and participation in various thematic councils. The 2-hour webinar came to an end with a Q&A session.