Citizen Involvement in the Region of Southern Denmark (DK0073)

Citizen involvement must be a natural part of the regions' work, and focus is on strengthening cooperation between civil society, politicians and the public admin- istration. With public meetings and outreach dialogue forums, the commitment will make it more accessible for citizens to engage in dialogue with politicians re- garding local decisions, for example in the field of health and regional develop- ment strategies. The Region of Southern Denmark facilitates the dialogue and in- teraction between civil society and the region. Hence, the commitment seeks to increase citizen involvement and participation in democracy.

What is the societal problem that the commitment will address? Citizen involvement must be a natural part of the regions' work, and there is a need to focus is on strengthening cooperation with both politicians and ad- ministration. The following issues have been identified in relation to this: • There is a need to enhance trust in democracy and trust between citizens, politicians and administration. • There is a need for citizens increasingly to engage in the democ- racy through debate in political processes, party politics and elec- toral participation. • There is a need for citizens to contribute to qualifying political pro- cesses and decisions. Danish Regions is the interest organisation for the five regions in Denmark. In the years 2019–2021, the individual regions continued to work on the rec- ommendations of a temporary political working party, aiming to make the 205 regional politicians better at setting a public agenda – also in-between the electoral periods. The Region of Southern Denmark has decided to budgetise citizen involve- ment in the period 2022–2024 and has established a project to enhance citi- zen involvement in the political processes in the Regional Council – partly in- spired by the recommendations of Danish Regions.

What does the commitment entail? The Region of Southern Denmark's primary objectives for citizen involve- ment are: • To further enhance citizen involvement. The involvement must therefore be taken into account in the political decisions of the Regional Council in the coming years. • Citizens must be involved in themes where there is real policy space so that it supports the mandate, which the Regional Coun- cil wants to provide. • Citizen involvement must be broadly anchored as a method in the organisation in the Region of Southern Denmark. The Region of Southern Denmark must ensure broad anchoring of citizen in- volvement, which is to become a natural part of the region's work in the fu- ture. Citizens will be involved using various formats, including citizens’ as- sembly, theme days, workshops, anthropological studies, panels, etc. After two years with the project, the experiences with citizen involvement will be analysed.

How will the commitment contribute towards solving the societal problem? With citizen meetings and outreach dialogue forums, the commitment will make it easier for citizens to engage in dialogue with politicians on topics and decisions that concern them. Examples of topics for the citizens’ meetings: • Input to a new profile for OUH Svendborg Hospital • Panels on food quality: Patients who are in dialogue with politicians about food in hospitals. • Input to challenges and opportunities for a new regional develop- ment strategy. The measures are continuously evaluated in order to continue to strengthen the internal processes and create the greatest possible value for citizens and politicians.

Why is the commitment relevant to the OGP values? The project seeks to increase citizen involvement in political processes and decisions. The Region of Southern Denmark does this by facilitating the dia- logue and interaction between the civil society and the region. Citizens' par- ticipation in democracy will increase, and citizens will be given a greater role and can thereby influence the implementation of political decisions. Additional Information https://regionsyddanmark.dk/politik/borgerinddragelse-og-indflydelse (in Danish)

Activities or milestones with verifiable deliverables | Start date - End date

Citizen involvement in the establishment of a local hospital in Middelfart and political assessment. | October 2022 - March 2023

Citizen involvement in the input phase of the new Re- gional Development Strat- egy 2024–2027 and consul- tation proposals/develop- ment of a new strategy. | January 2023 - September 2023

Review of the current pa- tient transport (Flextrafik): Analysis and dialogue meeting between politicians and patient representatives. | January 2023 - June 2023

Political participation in Taste Panels in hospitals and psychiatric wards: Dia- logue meetings and political assessment. | January 2023 - Q3 2023

Citizen meeting concerning the profiles of OUH Nyborg Hospital and a local hospital in Nyborg. | March 2023 - August 2023

Midterm review of involve- ment initiatives: Discussion in the executive committee about initiatives and les- sons learnt from the initia- tives in the first year. | Q1 2023 - Q1 2023

Ongoing activities with citi- zen involvement based on lessons learnt from the mid- term review. | Q1 2023 - Q1 2024

Evaluation of the initiatives. | Q2 2024 - Q2 2024