Toledo City Council embraces digital participation

The case of Toledo City Council

The Department of Citizen Participation at Toledo City Council approached us at a pivotal moment. Midway through her term, councilor Helena Galán had successfully restructured participation mechanisms with a new ordinance. The standout feature of this reform was the introduction of assemblies to complement the work of traditional district councils, allowing greater involvement from non-neighborhood associations.

However, for these structural reforms to translate into tangible improvements in participation rates, particularly among non-organized citizens, a concrete action plan was necessary. Helena knew that strengthening local organizations was key. Following this, enabling new spaces for online participation was crucial. But where to begin?

Our client

Where to begin?

Our consultants began by meeting with Helena's team and other council members. There was a genuine commitment to transparency and participation from the city government. However, previous actions lacked coherence and clear goals. One of Helena’s team’s biggest challenges was the scarcity of resources, both in terms of materials and staff, leading to long hours of work without achieving the desired results.

Kuorum developed a tailored offer for Toledo City Council. Our consultants delved deeper into the efforts being made in each district, creating a stakeholder map and identifying specific topics with the potential for successful public engagement. This groundwork laid the foundation for the city’s first Action Plan to Boost Citizen Participation in one of the Spanish's most historic cities.

"We needed to increase citizen participation levels."

Toledo City Council embraces digital participation

A tailored solution

The action plan included several measures: training elected officials and public employees in managing participatory processes, equipping local organizations with skills to design professional communication campaigns, and implementing a free participation platform where citizens, organizations, and the city council could deliberate on selected topics.

A seamless experience for everyone

Following the success of this pilot project, Toledo City Council is now considering launching its first participatory budgeting process - a milestone that seemed unattainable just a few months ago. Thanks to Helena and her team’s exceptional work with our support, Toledo was also selected as the host city for the 2018 NovaGob Congress, a leading event in international public innovation.

Whether you're looking to open your municipality to continuous online participation or have a specific need to gauge public opinion on a particular topic, request a demo or contact us and we will advise you with no strings attached.