Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” has developed a platform for civic participation in the municipality of Dobrich, which can be found at www.zadobrich.com. Its purpose is to support dialogue and cooperation between decision-makers, non-governmental organizations, the general public and other interested parties in the municipality. The introduction of the platform leads to greater transparency and openness of the process of developing public policies and improves their quality. The participation of all stakeholders in the decision-making process contributes to the consideration of all points of view on issues of local importance, improves the understanding of each of the groups in relation to the others, and increases their responsibility not only to current generations, but also to those who will live in the future.
The platform is based on open source software “Consul”. It is the most comprehensive digital tool for citizen participation, enabling open, transparent and democratic governance. It is used in 35 countries, 135 institutions (local authorities in New York, Madrid, Turin, Paris) and by over 90 million people. The platform is the result of the joint work of over 50 institutions from different parts of the world. They continue to share and exchange experiences, best practices and knowledge. With their input, Consul is constantly expanding and improving.
The development and implementation of the platform for the needs of the municipality of Dobrich is part of the project “Joint decisions for better governance of Dobrich municipality”. It is implemented by Bulgarian School of Politics “Dimitry Panitza” and is financed by Operational Program “Good Governance” (OPGG), co-financed by the European Social Fund of the European Union.