“Strategic Talks”, the joint webinar series from the World Bank and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, has been established to discuss and determine crisis response measures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Strategic Talks”, the joint webinar series from the World Bank and the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, has been established to discuss and determine crisis response measures during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
International and Russian experts took part in the second webinar of the series called “Opportunities and best practices for citizen e-engagement in the implementation of urban and rural projects to improve the quality of living conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic."
There is increased evidence that citizen involvement is one of the most important factors to consider when seeking to improve public services and implement projects, expand social integration, and increase the level of public confidence in state institutions. The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to be more innovative in using advanced technologies to engage citizens in state and municipal government processes. The webinar brought together global experts from the World Bank and representatives from the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities of the Russian Federation to showcase global and Russian examples in citizen engagement. This included citizen scorecards, social audits, participatory budgeting practices, as well as the Russian experience when piloting Citizen Engagement Standard in Urban Development developed jointly by ASI and the Russian Federal Ministry of Construction with input from business associations and the expert community. Participants also discussed which solutions have worked when building citizen engagement and what additional measures could be taken to improve the current situation. In total, experts from more 50 Russian regions attended the webinar.