Digital Democratic Empowerment and Mobilization for a Stronger EU (DigiDEM

The DigiDEM EU project (Digital Democratic Empowerment and Mobilization for a Stronger EU (DigiDEM)) is the first transnational, digital citizen participation project in the European Union. Partner countries in this project are Germany, the Netherlands, Montenegro and Belgium.

The project is designed to go hand in hand with CODE Europe - a three-year project funded by the EEA's Regional Cooperation grants, testing the collaborative method of crowdsourcing legislation in Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Latvia and Portugal. In collaboration with the CODE Europe project (Co-Deciding Europe), collaborative methods of digital crowdsourcing legislation and “social listening” are being used in a total of 9 European countries.

Citizens from these 9 countries will develop a legislative proposal on the topic of “air quality” on a transnational, digital and multilingual citizen participation platform developed specifically for this project. The topic of air quality was chosen because of its transnational nature and the problems associated with it (an estimated 400,000 premature deaths in Europe each year). A legal revision on this topic is currently taking place at the European level, which is due to be completed in 2023 and aims to improve air quality. DigiDEM EU and CODE Europe aim to ensure that citizens are significantly involved in the legislative process and that the collected contributions from citizens on this topic will be incorporated into the EU's political decision-making.

By testing crowdsourcing and social listening in nine EU countries, the project will help provide a blueprint for innovative methods of citizen participation to complement representative democracy. Through its activities and outcomes, DigiDEM and CODE Europe also aim to create a transnational community of policymakers, academics, businesses, NGOs and citizens who will continue to apply and advocate for the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to ensure an inclusive and collaborative decision-making process at all levels.

DigiDEM is carried out in partnership with the following organizations:

• Stichting Network Democratie, Netherlands
• Democracy International, Germany
• ProInfo Foundation, Bulgaria
• E-Riigi Akadeemia Sihtasutus, Estonia
• Gradjanska Alijansa, Montenegro
• ECAS, Belgium