Open call for grants applications for projects and activities

The Barcelona City Council has published the general call for grants for projects, activities, and services in districts and the city for the year 2024.

The period for submitting applications for the 2024 call will be between January 8 and January 25, 2024, both inclusive.

In this link, you can find the call document with thematic areas and programs, as well as the required documentation for processing the application.

P) Democratic Innovation (page 53)

In the CITY (11) area, no more than three projects per applicant will be accepted within the thematic areas of I11 Active Democracy and Citizen Participation, J11 Community Action and Associativism, P11 Democratic Innovation.

The submitted projects must be non-profit.

Projects aimed at Democratic Innovation are understood to be oriented towards promoting digital rights and innovative democratic participation, such as collective decision-making and citizen deliberation, associative or organizational, citizen control of public policies or a democratic organization, collaborative production with the administration or between social organizations, the development of digital infrastructures for participation, the promotion of training and digital mediation for citizen involvement, research projects for democratic innovation, the defense of digital rights, and, in general, the challenges presented by society in the network.

In this line of subsidies, mere communication, the opening of information channels, or other types of “participation” in activities that are not essentially democratic will not be considered as “participation.”

The Directorate of Democratic Innovation will monitor the subsidized projects, and at least two mandatory open sessions for subsidized entities will be held at the Canòdrom-Ateneu for Digital and Democratic Innovation (one public session for project presentations and one public session for presenting the results obtained).

In the case of projects to be developed in educational centers, a prior agreement with the centers must be reached to carry out the project, which must be submitted together with the application.

Pb) Projects within the framework of the European Capital of Democracy (city scope)

The European Capital of Democracy is a European initiative aimed at promoting citizen debate and society’s participation in democracy. In January 2023, Barcelona was chosen as the European Capital of Democracy for a period from September 2023 to October 2024. During this period, the city will organize events, conferences, and activities at the city, European, and international levels focused on democratic innovation and citizen participation, as well as other key aspects intersecting with democracy: culture, education, technology, participation, rights, the city, or the climate issue.

Specifically, two major thematic frameworks are established. On the one hand, the challenges of democracy on a global scale, the various crises that threaten it, and the challenges of imagining new forms of governance at multiple scales through cooperation, networks, and possible new local and global futures. On the other hand, there is the issue of democracy at the city and metropolitan scale, and possible innovations in citizen participation and the coproduction of public policies.

This call aims to promote democratic innovation and experimentation around public deliberation and debate, the construction of new models of participation and coproduction of public policies, and the search for emerging formats that hybridize with the digital sphere.

The goal of this grant modality is to encourage events, activities, and public actions open to the entire population (conferences, debates, workshops, assemblies, days, meetings, working sessions, agoras, etc.) revolving around democracy while also taking into account the aspects mentioned earlier. Two types of project proposals are suggested based on format:

1. Meetings, conferences, assemblies, or other types of events with a minimum duration of a full day (or an entire morning or afternoon) that: 1) address some of the previously mentioned themes. This typology would allow activities organized by city entities oriented towards the entity itself, as long as there is a part of the activity open to the entire population and related to the proposal of the European Capital of Democracy, and 2) must take place between January 1, 2024, and October 15, 2024, in the city of Barcelona.
2. Activities, workshops, working sessions, open thematic citizen debates, round tables, presentations, training sessions, open spaces, public agoras, live radio and/or video sessions, cultural and/or artistic interventions, installations, itineraries, walks, exhibitions, presentations, as well as other open and innovative formats that: 1) address some of the previously mentioned themes within the framework of the European Capital of Democracy 2) are open to the entire population 3) take place between September and October 2024 in the city of Barcelona. These events will be included in the public program of the European Capital of Democracy and will receive support in communication and dissemination as long as they meet the established requirements. Activities must be carried out before October 15, which is the date when the European Capital of Democracy will conclude.

Projects submitted under this modality can receive up to a maximum of €15,000.

Requirements:

1. Projects that can be classified into one of the two previously described typologies, considering the described temporal requirements. In this sense, projects and proposals that work transversally, especially in public spaces or spaces of public concurrence, paying special attention to social inequalities as a factor of exclusion from participation, and including a diverse and inclusive perspective in their approach, are encouraged.

2. Projects that:

• 2.1. Seek to address the challenges of democracy on a global scale, the different crises that threaten it (political disenchantment, hate speech, fake news, the loss of legitimacy of public authorities, or inequalities and the loss of rights), and the challenges of imagining new forms of governance at multiple scales through cooperation, networks, and possible new local and global futures. 2.2. And/or work around democracy at the city and metropolitan scale, existing participation mechanisms, and possible innovations regarding the protagonism of citizens in managing common issues and in the coproduction of public policies.
• 2.3. Projects that promote public debate, empowerment, and citizen participation, incorporating innovative elements in methodology or proposed formats.

Also, the following will be valued as long as the previous requirements are met:

3. Projects that promote debate about democracy within social entities, such as the exchange of innovative experiences, debate and reflection sessions on the internal democracy of organizations, projects that make visible the role that associative fabric and civil society have played in the construction of the city and its mechanisms of democratic participation, self-management models, cooperation networks, solidarity and mutual support, or the role of social movements and their role as agents of change and transformation of the city.

4. Projects that reflect and promote democratic debate among citizens, civil society, and different public institutions with the aim of advancing systems based on the coproduction of public policies.

5. Projects that explore new models of multi-scale democratic governance, new tools, new methodologies and/or emerging technologies, in the face of local and global challenges of different social crises and their impact on democracies, beyond direct or representative democracy, and through participatory democracy.

6. Projects that include a debate and critical reflection on technology, placing the issue of digital rights, open code, and free access to knowledge at the center.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Public interest in the project, relevance, and thematic fit within the framework of the European Capital of Democracy… 1.5 points
• Utility, viability, and impact of the project on the city, the population, and the entire social fabric, including a diverse perspective and with special attention to inequalities… 1.5 points
• Openness of the proposal to the general population, civil society, public administrations, and/or organizations… 1 point
• Impact of the project on the dissemination, awareness, and promotion of participation, democracy, democratic innovation, or the coproduction of public policies… 1 point
• Originality and innovation in the methodological proposal and/or in the proposed formats and intersection with open digital technologies in case of incorporating digital elements…1 point

If you have doubts, contact hola@capitalofdemocracy.barcelona.

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