Better collaboration between citizens and administrations

POC VILCO

Better collaboration between citizens and administrations

Like many cities, Brussels is home to an array of citizen initiatives and collectives committed to improving life quality, mobility, living together, climate, etc. Meanwhile, municipalities and regional administrations are also working towards sustainable development, through new policies and diverse actions. Hence VILCO’s inquiry: would combining the energy deployed on both sides, through a greater collaboration, contribute to making the city more resilient and collaborative?

Local public-citizen dynamics

VILCO is a participatory action research project funded by Innoviris, Brussels region’s agency for research and innovation: citizen initiatives and public authorities of Brussels, Etterbeek, Uccle and Watermael-Boitsfort collaborate within “local dynamics”. These living labs are supported by Brulocalis, Brussel’s city and municipalities’ association, the public innovation laboratory Strategic Design Scenarios, the sustainable development consultancy 21 Solutions, the Fondation pour les Générations Futures and the regional administration Bruxelles Environment. They all have engaged in 3 years of participatory action research in order to get to know each other, discover with empathy the realities and constraints of each other, define together the recurring issues to work on, come up with solutions, test hypotheses… 

16 POC to change local governance

Open forum for pooling resources, participatory budget, administrative simplification of citizen projects, single-use of public buildings service, street co-creation kits, neighbourhood assemblies; mapping of the initiatives; neighbourhood citizen meetings; boost subsidies; etc. a total of 16 POC, full-scale experiments and analysis findings: what does each experiment produce in terms of effects and behavioural changes. Relevant results are capitalised, made available and shared through a toolbox, to make sure that everything learnt in the past 3 years doesn’t remain on the shelf but benefits everyone!

  • Porteurs : Brulocalis, 21Solutions, Bruxelles Environnement, Strategic Design Scenarios, Fondation pour les générations futures
  • Designers : Strategic Design Scenarios
  • Acteurs : Programme de recherche-action CO-CREATE, INNOVIRIS, Région Bruxelles-Capitale, Ville de Bruxelles, Commune d’Uccle, Commune d’Etterbeek, Commune de Watermael-Boitsfort et les collectifs citoyens BXL En Transition, Oxy Durable, Uccle En Transition, Quartier Durable St Job, Etterbeek En Transition, Coin du Balai, Logis Floréal.