Page 43 - Demo

1.3 Citizenship Participation and EngagementEvelina Staykova n Learning outcomes: The aim of the training is to introduce students to the nature andimportance of citizen participation, making a transition from theoreticalunderstandings to concrete EU practices. The course stimulates a criticalunderstanding of the nature of participatory processes and helps studentsto formulate ideas and recommendations for its improvement. n Keywords:decision-making processes, participation, engagement, EuropeanParliament elections, European Citizens%u2019 Initiative, European Citizens%u2019ConsultationsIntroduction There is no Europe without citizens. This is why European citizenship was born,and why stimulating the involvement of European citizens in decision-makingprocesses has become a priority for the European institutions. In the years sincethe first European Parliament elections, attempts to bring Europe closer to itscitizens and tackle the democratic deficit have led to experimentation with arange of mechanisms and instruments for citizen participation. Although notvery popular and with an uncertain effect, some of them have neverthelessachieved real results by turning important civic issues into real legislativeinitiatives.The aim of this section is to highlight the characteristics of civic participationand inclusion at a European level, critically analysing their content andeffectiveness.n 1. 3. 1. Citizen engagement and participation: importance and examples Citizen participation is a process that provides citizens an opportunity toinfluence public decisions and has long been a component of the democraticdecision-making process. The roots of citizen participation can be traced toancient Greece (Parker, 2002). Citizen participation and engagement mean ensuring citizens have a directvoice in public decisions. The terms %u201cengagement%u201d and %u201cparticipation%u201d are often431.3 Citizenship Participation and Engagement