[figure of smart method] Background:
In our vision, public policy simply means solving problems of public concern. We want to use our efforts to find those solutions that are feasible, valuable and sustainable, and that have a higher impact to our lives. We also want this process to be based on the active participation of every day citizens, who would offer a direction to the best line of action.
It is well known that we play limited roles in public life. We are usually called upon during elections to vote and influence the public policies for the next years. But, during an elected term, we do not have efficient means to influence important decisions that affect our communities, be it at a local, national or international level. If we are lucky, some elected or appointed officials really encourage participation projects and we manage to make our voices heard in the community and influence public policies.
We also encounter a limited access to the decision making process that affects our daily life. This is due to circumstantial and personal matters. The circumstantial problems are based on a lack of efficient means to offer our feedback to problems of public concern. The personal matters are based on "lower socioeconomic status, lack of impact of personal participation compared to collective participation, limited time and money, lack of information and knowledge about issues, and lack of confidence in their ability to be effective" (Brian Adams, "Citizen Lobbyists. Local efforts to influence public policy")
SMART Method of Public Policy:
SMART Development Centre from Romania has developed the method of participation called "SMART Method of Public Policy." This is a combination of online and offline citizen engagement. We have set up an easy, straight forward, step-by-step approach to recommending solutions to community problems. The website, www.Public-Policies.eu is the backbone of our method and offers two important services:
1.It allows any person to raise a problem that needs a feasible, valuable and sustainable solution, accessing the "Raise a Problem" link.
2.It allows any person to recommend a solution to the existing problems that are published on the website, with only one click away.
Once we have enough solution proposals, our project team follows the next steps to support and endorse the best solutions:
1. First, we analyze each solution proposal individually, and select those that are feasible, valuable and sustainable. A feasible solution is one that can be accomplished by the existing organizations or with help from others. A valuable solution is one that brings value to overseers, people in general or members of the targeted communities, while a sustainable solution is one that is likely to attract public support, as well as authority and money from the political, social or business environments (definitions inspired from Mark Moore's "Creating Public Value").
2. Once our team decides upon the best solution, we create a policy paper. This describes the problem along with the best solutions given by the citizens. It also contains a recommendation at the end based on the careful analysis of ethical criteria.
3. In the next step, we start building awareness around our solution, so we send the Policy Paper to elected and appointed officials, to implement our solution. If needed, we send it to the mass-media as well.
4. We also archive the Policy Paper on www.public-policies.eu so that anybody can download it and send it to whoever might be able to implement our solution.
5. We publish every official response on the page of the problem. The problem poster has the option to either approve the response if he/she is pleased with the feedback of the outhorities or reject the response, motivating his/her decision. If rejected, the participation process is started all over again.
We consider that if we follow these easy and straight forward steps, backed up by the functionality of the citizen engagement platform, we have good chances to influence public policies at local, national and international levels. Using the advantages of the Internet, and this website specifically, we will fulfill our mission, that is, to engage people in providing valuable, sustainable and feasible solutions to problems of public concern. This way we will generate "public policies made by citizens!"
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Managing Partners
