[event] Urban Governance and the Citizen

[Smithfield Resi]

Urban Governance and the Citizen
'The Citizens' Participation is the City's Joy'

Hi All,

I hope you may be in a position to attend this event being organised by David O'Gorman - David has been very actively involved with SPUR in San Francisco - and has a strong desire to see such an inclusive approach to 'citizen planning' and public policy being adopted in Dublin and Ireland as a whole. Ths is a great opportunity to hear how this approach has been effective in San Francisco, and to challenge the current system through debate with John Gormley and John Tierney. Seeking 'full information, an open public discourse and stakeholder dialogues at all levels' has always been the challenge in public policy in Ireland.

Coach House, Dublin Castle
Wednesday 25th February 2009
9:00 am–1:00 pm

Background
Minister John Gormley has promoted new thinking on citizen engagement in the governance of Dublin. His 2008 Green Paper on Local Government Reform included a proposal for a directly elected Mayor in Dublin.

The Aarhus Convention is ten years old and its principles are now well embedded in EU policy and law. These principles establish the rights of access to information and public participation in environmental decision making. The convention has been signed by Ireland but has yet to be ratified.

The San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) is fifty years old this year. "Through research, analysis, public education, and advocacy, SPUR promotes good planning and good government…In a city dominated by single-interest politics, SPUR plays the crucial role of uniting citizens from all parts of the city to jointly craft solutions to our common problems."

Conference Purpose
This conference will explore ways of developing meaningful public debate about the future of Dublin. It introduces the SPUR model of civic engagement and asks could something similar work in Dublin?

Bookings:
Kerry Power
Dublin Civic Trust; 4 Castle Street, Dublin 2
Tel: 353 1 475 6911;
eMail: mailto:info@dublincivictrust.ie

Administrative support is kindly provided by the Dublin Civic Trust. A contribution of €30 per delegate towards expenses is requested.


Schedule


9:00 am Registration

9:15 am What difference will an elected Mayor make in Dublin?

John Gormley
Leader of the Green Party and Minister of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government

9:45 am Aarhus: What does it mean for Dubliners?

Svend Auken
Former leader of the Danish Social Democrats and current party spokesperson on EU affairs

Michael Ewing
Irish Environmental Network

Conor Skehan
Head of Department of Environment and Planning, Dublin Institute of Technology

11:15 am Break

11:30 am The Future of Citizenship – San Francisco and Dublin

Gabriel Metcalf
Executive Director, San Francisco Policy and Urban Research Association

Dermot Lacey
Councillor, Dublin City Council

John Tierney
Dublin City Manager

1:00 pm Close

[Smithfield Resi]

Just a reminder that this event is on tomorrow. Anyone attending?

[missarchi]

no but I would be curious what unfolds

[Smithfield Resi]

Did anyone attend this event?

[gunter]

was thinking about it . . it was a tough call . . but in the end, descided to hang onto my 30 euro

[Smithfield Resi]

hang onto my 30 euro

I hear ya...the event included a Govt minister from Denmark, and a representive of SPUR from San Francisco. It think there were some funding sources to organise the event but the costs of putting it on were high for a brand new organisation with no funds to draw on.

[gunter]

Normally I'd pay that much just to hear Conor Skehan, . . . but, there's a recession on and he can be a bit depressing, (even when there isn't a recession on)

Can you fill us in on what happened, or did you hang on to your €30 as well?

[Smithfield Resi]

I'd love to fill you in, the event was videoed though and worth a look if it gets posted up. I'll talk to David about youtubing some highlights.

in short my various memories of the conference (my fairly light-hearted and flippant version of events - it was actually very interesting event) forgive the writing style, just a brain-dump.

Aarhus convention is 10 years old. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarhus_Convention Iceland, Switzerland (legal problem with Canton's) and Ireland only signatories that have not transposed it into law (although we have access to information on environment legislation)

John Gormley: Will be ratifying/transposing Aarhus. Don't know when as I have to convince the other ministers. Will have a mayor for dublin, I promised it, don't know when . Banks are bad, mmmkay.


Svend Auken
Amenable fella, memories of Aarhus, his home town. Put it into law, then had to change more laws, so could be good thing to be last country. Not a nimby law. Good benefits, information, consultation, participation, access to justice.

Michael Ewing
Excellent overview. ratified by 41 countries. Gives the citizen rights & infomation. Not just access to info if you request it, but the principles of transparency. 3 legged stool - information, participation in decision making and access to justice. In addition anyone can request a compliance review by international body if country does not follow it.

Conor Skehan
Lashed Govt out of it. Entertaining as ever.

Gabriel Metcalf - SPUR
Missed most of this through having a 'fight the power' discussion outside with a councillor and fellow traveller ...what I saw was good though, and balanced in some of the drawbacks of citizen participation in decisionmaking


Dermot "I don't know what a tracker is" Lacey (only kidding dermot) - he admitted that he did not know that Part 8 planning could not be appealed. Refreshingly honest is Dermot. Rebutted comments in press about too many councillors. Lowest level of local representation in europe. More power needed in local govt. Govt owes DCC millions in rent. Committed to mayor being elected.

John Tierney
"...ility ...ation ...ility ...tation" pick your prefix, mix and match, create presentation.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
how to say nothing in 2000 words...

Best part was the mix of people attending, good to have conversations with DCC/Councillors/Activists/Planners/Architects etc..

More of this sort of thing,