Col·laboratorio Catalunya , promoted by the Generalitat de Catalunya and the i2CAT Foundation, with the support of the environmental association Eco-Union, organized an experiential workshop at the Canòdrom. The University of Digital and Democratic Innovation . Under the title 'Democracy Lab', on the 30th and 31st of October, a space for work, debate and the exchange of ideas was energized where we reflected on how to improve democracy so that it is more inclusive and more participatory . The meeting was attended by residents of the city of Barcelona, representatives of civil society and policy makers. In small groups and through dynamics facilitated by the environmental association Eco-Union, the main features and conditions that a democracy should meet were defined. Among others, legitimacy, citizen control, inclusion and representativeness were proposed as the backbones. Also, work was done to democratize decision-making or to establish at which points in a decision-making process citizens can or must intervene to make it more democratic and more participatory. Finally, several practical cases were shared based on the different proposals generated by the small working groups. Specifically, of the five working groups, three working groups put forward proposals on how to mitigate food waste in European territories.
The workshop of Col·laboratorio Catalunya and the environmental association Eco-Union was part of a European project that aims to improve inclusive participation and civic commitment, as well as expand democratic innovation and dynamic feedback mechanisms between the citizenship and among institutional actors in Europe.