ExpectedOutcome:
Projects should contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:
- Encourage international cooperation through better understanding of the articulation between local, regional, international and transnational governance.
- Encourage the development and implementation of policy in two areas of transnational and multi-level importance: the digital and climate transitions, also taking into account how does the division of policy ownership in multi-level governance systems impact the effectiveness of policymaking in these two policy areas.
- Lead to better-informed decision-making and policy implementation at national and EU levels, based on the identification of where the tensions and the opportunities are in top-down and bottom-up policymaking. The development of community-based innovations in the field of democratic governance and processes, notably at the level of cities and regions, and evaluation of their implications for social development, cohesion and inclusion.
- Provide policy recommendations on improvements and alternative pathways for the national and local implementation of EU law that are endorsed by the targeted public administrations, including through experimentation in deliberative processes.
Scope:
The threat of climate change will require changes in the ways in which we organise our societies, action at all levels of government, and coordination between these levels so that actions are taken at the most appropriate one and complement each other effectively. Optimising complementarity will also be important to face the challenge of staff shortage to tackle the climate transition.
The digital transition is also at the heart of the question of multi-level governance of major transitions: for instance, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed practices, and shown that further paths can be followed in order for digitalisation to be moulded to benefit the climate, and society.
The EU Green Deal and digital strategy, and their national and local implementation strategies, are the policy roadmaps to be examined under this topic.
Proposals should analyse how different levels of government in the EU work in developing and implementing policy on the digital and climate transitions. Where is collaboration and collective agenda-setting most effective, in order for climate and digital roadmap goals to be met? How does the division of policy ownership in multi-level governance systems impact the effectiveness of policymaking in these two policy areas: where are the gaps, and where are the duplications? Questions of responsiveness and legitimacy might also be considered.
Proposals should also analyse the development of community-based innovations in the field of democratic governance and processes, notably at the level of cities and regions, and evaluation of their implications for social development, cohesion and inclusion.
Given the very particular situation of border regions, proposals could analyse innovative legal instruments, organisational set-ups, cross-border democratic processes that strengthen cross-border cooperation and ultimately the resilience of cross-border territories.
As the innovation part of this action, proposals should experiment with community-led innovations in one or both policy areas, such as through deliberative processes, or engaging social innovation partners and citizens representatives.
Based on this analysis, proposals should suggest pathways for better-informed decision-making at national and EU levels based on the identification of where the tensions the opportunities are in top-down and bottom-up policymaking, and policy implementation.
Proposals should form partnerships with government authorities at the relevant levels, in order for their policy recommendations on improvements and alternative pathways for the national and local implementation of EU law to be more likely to be endorsed by the targeted public administrations.
Proposals are encouraged to collaborate with the JRC Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy[1], which provides expertise in particular with respect to experimentation with community-led innovations through deliberative and other participatory processes and approaches.
[1]https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/participatory-democracy_en
