πινeΖίτσα: An app for the Municipality of Zitsa

πινeΖίτσα: An app for the Municipality of Zitsa

Citizen participation in public matters is a sign of a healthy and democratic local government. However, participation cannot always be effective, because of various spatial and temporal constraints. Constraints can be even more amplified in rural areas where long distances and bad quality road network can further complicate the attentiveness of citizens in public meetings. Participation through ICT (e-participation) can help to alleviate the issues of the physical presence and positively contribute in the decision-making processes of the local government. In this study, we present an app for m-participation for the municipality of Zitsa. The app has been developed according to the state-of-the-art methods and best practices, taking into consideration the special characteristics of the Zitsa municipality. Residents may use the app to report issues in their area “on the go” and, at the same time, to actively participate in the decisions through voting and commenting.