

Democratic
Resilience:
How to accelerate democratic innovation in critical times?
Last edition [2022]
The first week of public innovation in the
heart of Europe
Civic Hall Brussels, TOKVIL Public Innovation Network and Dreamocracy are organizing the second edition of Brussels’ Public Innovation Week (December 07-14, 2022) as part of its mission to support all those committed to better address today’s greatest policy challenges through policy innovation.
With mounting societal challenges, from polarization to lack of trust, from health to climate and rising inequality, Brussel’s Public Innovation Week consists of a series of on- and offline events designed to put public-sector innovators in the limelight.
It brings together large and small events, at the initiative of public managers with the aim of enhancing the innovation capacities of services and public officials and of sharing best practices. Throughout the week, public service bodies and private stakeholders will share thoughts, methods and ideas.
Democratic Resilience -
How to accelerate democratic innovation
in critical times?
If autocracies tend to make catastrophic decisions, democracies don’t by default make better decisions. In the face of attacks from within and from outside, how can we equip public administration to make democracy smarter and increase the legitimacy of the decisions we make collectively? Join a week of dynamic conversations and be inspired by recent innovations from thought-leaders from Brussels, Belgium, Europe, and beyond.
Events
Brussels time zone: UTC/GMT+1 h
2022
DEC.

Webinar
Are parties the problem or the solution? Can parties reinvent themselves?
Format: Online webinar - Free - 60 minutes - English
Speakers: Josef Lentsch (Innovation in Politics Institute), Damien de Vroey (Les Engagés)
Moderators: Stephen Boucher, Tanguy de Lestré
Organiser: Dreamocracy
07
11:30
12:30pm
Fighting political disengagement with political entrepreneurship
2022

Webinar
Let's be Smarter Together !
Soft launch of the forthcoming Routledge Handbook of Collective Intelligence for Democracy and Governance.
Format: Online webinar - Free - 90 minutes - English
Speakers: Lex Paulson (School of Collective Intelligence), Carina Hallin (IT University of Copenhagen / Mindpool), Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: Dreamocracy
07
DEC.
4:30
6:00pm
Fighting political disengagement with political entrepreneurship
Are parties the problem or the solution? Can parties reinvent themselves?
Format: Webinar - Free - 60 minutes - English
Speakers: Josef Lentsch (Innovation in Politics Institute), Damien de Vroey (Les Engagés), Gilles Balis (Agora.brussels)
Organiser: Dreamocracy
08
DEC.
4:00
5:00pm
2022
Webinar

08
DEC.
4:00
5:00pm
Digitalisation: who are Europe’s frontrunners?
Digitalisation of public administration is the norm today. So what is the next frontier in e-government and what can Belgium and the EU learn from Europe’s frontrunners?
Elisa Lironi will showcase the results of ECAS’ Digital Transformation Co-Creation events in Ireland, Portugal, Latvia and Luxembourg. How to achieve digital inclusiveness in Europe?
Format: Online - Free - 60 minutes - English
Speakers: Nadezhda Gerasimova (Citizen Engagement Platform Urbanpinion)
Moderator: Tanguy de Lestré (Tokvil Labs)
Organisers: Tokvil Labs
2022
In person event

12
DEC.
2:00
4:00pm
Cooperation against disinformation
Disinformation is the collective effort of many actors, so no single entity can tackle it by itself. From a civil society organisation in Slovenia to Twitter – we’re looking at how different actors, small and large, are combating fake narratives and how they are cooperating for maximum impact.
Part 1 - Small actors – big impact?
Crises and challenges have shown us that SMEs are better suited to adapt to new developments in comparison to large corporations. Same is true for the issue of disinformation – small organisations can be quicker to identify and react to fake narratives. In this part we’re showcasing how small civil society actors are coming together and rising up to the task to counteract disinformation locally by implementing targeted actions. We want to know: Can we scale up these approaches for a bigger impact and not give up the agility?
Format: Physical - Free - 60 minutes - English
Speakers: Alessandra Cardaci (Debating Europe), Katarina Rotar (Slovene Philanthropy), Tibor Tarcsay (Civil College Foundation Hungary) , Adeline Brion (LieDetectors).
Moderator: Simeon Stoyanov (ECAS)
Part 2 - Twitter: How to keep the bird flying according to our rules instead of putting it in a cage?
Recently, Twitter has been under the spotlight as internal processes are underway that can affect the spread of disinformation on the platform. At the same time, the company is a signatory of the Code of Practice to fight disinformation and has committed to a number of self-regulatory measures while EU institutions have indicated they are closely monitoring for possible law breaches. Both the tech giant and regulators are on the balancing rope to keep free speech while protecting users – a movement from one requires action from the other. How are they approaching this on their own and in cooperation?
Format: Physical - Free - 60 minutes - English
Speakers: Alberto Rabbachin (EC DC CONNECT), Chris Powers (EURACTIV)
Moderator: Tanguy de Lestré (Tokvil Labs), Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Venue: Be Central, Cantersteen 12, 1000 Brussels.
Organiser: ECAS - European Citizen Action Service
2022
Webinar

12
DEC.
6:00
7:00pm
What is the role of public innovation labs?
What type of innovations are sparked in public innovation labs? What are these labs anyway? Let's engage with experts all the way from Brazil to Sweden to Lithuania and global.
Format: Online - Free - English
Speakers: Liza-Maria Norlin (GovTech Sweden), Arūnė Matelytėn (Govtech Lab Lithuania), Guilherme D. F. Dominguez (Brazilab)
Moderator: Tanguy de Lestré (Tokvil Labs)
Organiser: Tokvil Labs
2022
Webinar

13
DEC.
11:30
12:30pm
Better listening for better policy making:
Lessons from the Open European Dialogue
The Open European Dialogue (OED) is Europe’s first dialogue platform for policy makers. Its members come from over 100 different political parties and meet to discuss domestic and international issues in an informal and non-confrontational setting. Process design for politics is at the centre of its work and is key to encouraging active listening, explorative policy thinking and trust-building across diverse political actors. Join this conversation to learn how politicians from across the political spectrum enrich their knowledge and expertise on complex policy challenges through innovative dialogue methods.
Format: Online - Free - English
Speakers: Isotta Ricci Bitti (Open European Dialogue)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: Dreamocracy
2022
Webinar

13
DEC.
4:00
5:00pm
Europe’s 2023 capital of democracy: Why showcasing audacity matters
Many democratic innovations take place at local level. What traction have municipalities had in reinvigorating local democracy? How to give their initiatives greater publicity in the media? Why a European Capital of Democracy might make a difference?
Format: Online- Free - English
Speakers: Helfried Carl (European Capital of Democracy - ECoD), Arnaud Pinxteren (City of Brussels, Alderman of the Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal), Roel Camps (Youth Counselor, City of Antwerp)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: Innovation in Politics Institute
2022
Webinar

14
DEC.
2:00
3:00pm
Accelerating change and avoiding resistance with stakeholder platforms
Are stakeholder platforms the solution when lobby groups get in the way of collective decision-making?
Format: Online - Free - English
Speakers Philipp Offergeld (Stiftung Mercator), Jean-Philippe Palasi (Agora of landscapes and Forests Madagascar)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: INDRI
2022
Webinar

14
DEC.
6:00
7:00pm
GovTech: Mining better data insights and latest trends
The potential of combining online and offline engagement, reflecting on the lessons learned at the height of the pandemic, and how to enter the new era of engagement even stronger.
Format: Online - Free - English
Speakers: Aline Muylaert (CitizenLab.co), Johnny Hugill (Public.io)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy), Tanguy De Lestré (Tokvil Labs)
Organiser: Citizenlab, Tokvil Labs and GovTech Meetup Belgium

GovTech Sweden



Alderman of the
Young Child, Citizen Participation and Urban Renewal, City of Brussels

Founder Tokvil Labs

EC DC Connect

LieDetectors


Research Coordinator, Collective Intelligence Group, The Business IT Department / Co-Founder Mindpool

CivicTech Alliance

Founder SOAR


GovTech Lab Lithuania

Stiftung Mercator

ECAS - European Citizen Action Service


ECAS - European Citizen Action Service

Debating Europe

Brazilab

Director of Communications, Euractiv

Innovation in Politics Institute

INDRI / Agora of landscapes and Forests Madagascar

Reinventing Society

Youth Counselor, Antwerp

Les Engagés

Transformation Lead at Public.io


Civil College Foundation Hungary
Get in touch with the team:
2022
Webinar

14
DEC.
4:00
5:00pm
How storytelling can help collective
change in times of crisis
In today’s wars of words, what best practices bring reconciliation, meaning, and facilitate reforms?
Format: Online - Free - English
Speakers: Mary-Alice Arthur (SOAR)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: Dreamocracy
Speakers/Guests
2022
Webinar

12
DEC.
11:30
12:30pm
Imagining the worst to prepare for the EP Elections 2024: What are citizens’ nightmares in the EU?
By understanding people’s fears for Europe and what they see as possible future challenges, we can start thinking about how to prevent them and find solutions. But what are citizens’ EU election nightmares and how to stop them from taking life
Format: Online- Free - English
Speakers: Elisa Lironi (ECAS), Stella Schaller (Reinventing Society)
Moderator: Stephen Boucher (Dreamocracy)
Organiser: ECAS - European Citizen Action Service