YOUR ORGANIZATION IS:
A nonprofit organization, group or institution who fights for democratic ideals and enhanced citizens‘ participation.
YOUR CAUSE IS:
Participatory democracy, nonviolent activism and citizens ‘rights.
Suggested Microvolunteering Actions for CIVIC PARTICIPATION:
CREATE
create a key-message for a campaign: *slogan, *motto, *logo, *poster, *banner
create an art piece to help convey a message: *poem, * photo, *drawing, *choreography
contribute with original ideas for solving community problems
share your personal story of dealing with corruption and lack of accountability
WRITE
write a short report about an on-going civic movement
attend an opened officials‘ meeting and share the discussion summary
summarize& translate a news piece into a local minority language
summarize a public interest issue or draft law
share advice on accessing various benefits and public services
respond to people’s questions concerning laws and administration
ORGANIZE
post on behalf of citizens with limited internet access
share, comment or endorse online a civic cause that you support
sign&share petitions and opened letters to authorities
vote on proposals for citizens‘ initiated draft laws
review and vote the best solutions aimed at improving your community
answer polls and surveys about public interest issues
rate public servants in terms of accountability, fairness and efficiency
INTERACT
help underprivileged citizens with form-filling and accessing public services
accompany a less-experienced individual at an appointment with a public servant
share office space for civic meetings and events
map community spots that need fixing: *streets, *parks, *bus stops *buildings
contact the media about a relevant, but overlooked issue
contact a public servant about an issue which demands immediate action
Ideas, trends and experiments
As citizens become more educated and involved in decision-making, protests can turn less violent and time-consuming.
Peaceful crowd-protest ideas:
- flood an irresponsible representative or organization with letters, each having a different design and format, but all conveying the same message. You can also work to coordinate the timing of the arrival of letters. For example, an inoffensive, often handmade, object (such as a toy, origami figure or small knitted piece of fabric) could be obsessively mailed to authorities who fail to take measures on a given issue.
- organize a micro non-violent protest event: *flash-mob, *sit-in, *street theatre, *candle lighting, *dress code parade, *flower offering, *chalk drawing.
E-participation. The power of new technologies can now be fully employed to demand accountability and fight against corrupted and inefficient leaders.
Ideas for involving citizens:
- organize social media-based campaigns, inviting people to post short texts, photos or videos from the comfort of their own homes.
- map local issues that still need to be fixed and track progress achieved in solving the community’s problems.
- use electronic voting to create ideas’competitions, participatory budgeting and online consultations and referendums for your community.
