Launching Event in Loulé

On Monday 4th of May 2015, ECOS Cooperative in partnership with the Municipality of Loulé launched ROUND-TRIP Project. The event took place in the auditory of Loulé’s Municipal Library Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen and was attended by 29 people, including Parliament Member Bruno Inácio, local CSO leaders, municipality representatives and staff, media representatives and other citizens.

The event, that included two main parts, an official opening session and a participatory session, was dedicated to the topic “Democratic citizenship: understanding the local reality and moving forward”.

The official opening, was composed by speeches on Democratic Participation by the President of Loulé Municipality, Mr. Vitor Aleixo and by Professor Alberto Melo, a preeminent SCO leader, scholar and citizen residing in the Municipality and moderated by Bruno António, ECOS president.

The project was then presented by its coordinator Joana Franco, that also launched the website www.roundtrip.ecos.pt, inviting the participants to use it in order to follow project developments in the different partners’ countries, participate in project’s activities as well as access future project outcomes.

As a teaser for the participatory session, participants were invited to write down 3 words that would represent their views on “Democratic Participation is…”, “Obstacles to my participation” and “My vision on democratic participation in the future”. This exercise resulted in the following word clouds:

: Democratic Participation is… to act, to share, to listen, a freedom, a duty, change…

: Obstacles to my participation… Time, Bureaucracy, Fear, Lack of Information, Politics, Disbelieve…

: My vision on democratic participation in the future: cooperation, more interest, urgente, informed, shared, intervention…

The participatory session “Café da Participação” (Participation Cafe) used World Cafe methodology to promote a healthy debate between participants in order to understand their opinions on democratic participation and start an assessment of the situation in the municipality of Loulé, as well as to collect initial ideas on ways to move forward.

After an introduction of the methodology, participants were invited to choose one of 5 cafe tables where ECOS facilitators served a “Participation Menu” that took around 45 minutes. The starter was composed by several questions on the existing participation mechanisms, the main dish focussed on the current situation of democratic participation and at dessert participants were invited to share views on how participation could be in the future. Main reflections and ideas were written down in the cafe paper tablecloths and exhibited for participants’ appreciation and further discussions and a final discussion round involving all the participants allowed them to do share insights and make suggestions on future project activities.

Enjoy our journey in Loulé watching the video and the photos of the event: