CIVIC LABS - Civic technology solution generator

EXPLORATION & KNOWLEDGE SHARING

Civic Labs is a set of practices to ensure citizen access and transparency to public data, and to provide citizens with digital tools to help them make the best decisions to improve the lives of communities.

Short summary of the practice

Civic Labs is a series of practices introduced in Romania to

Design digital solutions for social and environmental issues of common interest in Romania
Enable transparency when citizens access public data about their location, providing civil society, communities and governments with these digital tools to help them make the best decisions for the city they live in.
Educate, through the co-creation of maps by citizens, to understand and possibly correct the good functioning of their communities.

active participation, civic technology, community needs, digital tool, safety, shape community, community transformation

Goal of the practice

Informing and helping citizens make the right choices.

Target group

Currently, the actors involved in the data collecting process and mapping design belong from:
– Public authorities
– Watchdog NGOs
– Professional Federations and Organizations
– Other actors in the NGO sector
– Private sector actors

Number of participants: Unlimited

Age of participants: Adults, 18+

Materials

Internet connection
Laptop/ phone

Method settings

The tool is currently only used in Romania.

Duration

The time needed by participants to add their information on the platform.

Preparation

The facilitator should be working in the field already for a few years, a proper preparation for the learners is needed.

Step by step guide

Citizens using Civic Labs practices contact providers of specific solutions and typically download applications designed to solve key problems. It may be related to the environment, such as waste management practices, education, health monitoring systems, critical infrastructure solutions, COVID-19 task force, war issues, etc. This is an indirect way of granting permission to use the tool, as community representatives, usually legal entities such as NGOs, local community groups, etc.

As a first step, one needs to contact the Civic Lab Hub initiators and request rights to use the application.
Process.
Seek concrete solutions.
There are buttons for each action area.
Please “support me” and donate money for the development of the solution. There is only one internal procedure you need to follow to get permission to post on a specific topic application

Expected output

The output depends on the topic. Contributions can be made by registered groups from the local/civil community, NGOs, government agencies, and they can share the permission rights to the specific applications with their members. So far there is no individual or direct way to use the applications.

DOs, DONTs and ethical considerations of the method

DOs of the method:

Be certain of the veracity of the information shared and add their sources
Be neutral

DONTs of the method:

Avoid sharing content if you don’t have the right information
Avoid taking political sides

Change the method brings to the communities

Civic Labs provides digital solutions to Romania’s problems, taking into account the contexts in which they manifest themselves and coming up with the most effective, tested solutions to improve or completely solve them.

Civic Labs aims to build better communities in Romania by educating children and youth, supporting vulnerable groups, protecting the environment or encouraging civic participation to help areas of Romania reach their full potential.

Adaptation/Application of the method

For the time being, we can place this set of methods/solutions on the borderline between informing and non-participation (wither education and manipulation). They are implemented in partnership, but this is more contractual than open source or direct, which makes the transfer of practice and knowledge to citizens a little difficult.

Credit, References, and Resources

Link to the tool – https://www.code4.ro/ro/civic-labs

Collaborative Decision-Making