We are looking for interesting projects and ideas related to democracy and social participation

In March, Sitra’s Synergize Finland Forum will bring together Finns interested in social participation, joint decision-making and the creation of shared wellbeing. For this purpose, we would like to find out what is already being done and what kinds of ideas people have. 

Do you have a project that promotes or could promote Finnish democracy? Or do you have an idea that  someone to implement? Does your idea, for example, promote public participation, functioning of the representative system or people's feeling of being a part of something shared?

Sitra is organising a training programme called Synergize Finland Forum, the topic of which is New Democracy. Thirty representatives of various sectors within society have been invited and selected by an open application process to participate. Their task is, by March, to come up with an idea about what vital democracy in the 2010s could be like.

In the spirit of experimentation, the training programme aims to test various ideas and concepts about democracy. After experimenting with them, Sitra will help to launch and promote some of them.

A key part of the Synergize Finland Forum is the “Demokratiapäivä” (Democracy Day) event to be organised on 14 March 2012. This will bring together various parties to present the ideas developed by the participants of the Synergize Finland Forum on new activities and experiments as well as to present new kinds of operating models related to the functioning of democracy – genuine grassroots activities – to decision-makers.  The perspective will be on the future through examples of today. 

We are now looking for ideas and/or ongoing projects, so that Forum participants will be spared the task of reinventing the wheel. Join us with your idea/project and you will get an opportunity to gain visibility for it through our website. Some of the ideas and projects will be invited to participate in the Democracy Day event as examples of practical activities.

Please send us details of your idea or project by 31 January 2012.  We will be very pleased to receive them.  

Please note that the ideas and projects will be posted on this website for comments. So include only information that is public. More information is available from the contact person listed.

No idea is too big or small!