This is one of the largest and most important public engagement initiatives of our time, for which the Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare has just selected a consortium consisting of Gate 21, We Do Democracy, the University of Southern Denmark, and Queen Mary’s Center at the University of Copenhagen to carry out the project. Together, the partnership will, within a budget of 25.2 million to carry out the public engagement process for the Green Tripartite over the next three years.
The Green Tripartite Alliance aims to transform the Danish landscape and make room for more nature. To ensure public support and local ownership, we are now bringing together citizens, landowners, and local stakeholders from across the country.
“We want to bring Danes right into the heart of major collective decisions and show how local communities can break new ground together. Through our participation in the Green Tripartite, we will help set new benchmarks for how we meaningfully involve all parties in future solutions,” says Zakia Elvang, director of We Do Democracy
A Laboratory for Engagement in the Green Transition
The Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare has selected the consortium“Together for the Landscape of the Future”to develop and implement the national initiative over the next three years. Gate 21 leads the consortium, drawing on many years of experience with municipal partnerships and local green solutions, while We Do Democracy leads the overall citizen engagement program, focusing on democratic innovation, citizen engagement, and facilitation in close collaboration with researchers from the University of Southern Denmark and the Queen Mary Center.
“We’re glad we’re not in this alone, but that we’ll be tackling this complex challenge together with talented partners in the consortium and a wide range of key stakeholders in the field,” says Kolja Dahlin, Head of Business Development at We Do Democracy.
Research, evaluation, and implementation of the initiative
The University of Southern Denmark leads the Knowledge Center, which collects and shares knowledge about the methods. The Queen Mary Center contributes evaluation and research-based knowledge about citizens’ attitudes. The initiative is based, in part, on data from the Green Mandate research project, which shows that 24 percent of Danes want to participate in activities related to the Green Tripartite, but only 6 percent are aware of the opportunities. The initiative aims to make it easier to participate in practice.
The initiative to promote civic engagement and participation is part of the work of the Green Tripartite and is anchored in the Ministry of Nature and Animal Welfare, Local Government Denmark (KL), the Danish Agriculture & Food Council, and the Danish Society for Nature Conservation. “Together for the Landscape of the Future” is carrying out this initiative with a grant of 25.2 million Danish kroner from the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
Facts About the Project
Among other things, the consortium expects to have achieved the following results by the end of the project in three years:
- that a large number of citizens and local stakeholders who have participated in local initiatives in all four regions of Denmark feel that their participation has been meaningful and that they have helped shape the development and implementation of the green tripartite partnership.
- that between 24 and 130 local initiatives involving citizen participation have taken place.
- that nine concepts for local citizen engagement and two concepts for capacity-building in local citizen engagement have been developed, tested, evaluated, and refined along the way.
- that at least 600 local stakeholders involved in the implementation of the Green Tripartite have participated in conferences on the potential of the concepts and how they can be utilized.
- that at least six national future workshops have been held, which have generated input and perspectives for the implementation of the Green Tripartite at the national level.
- that the reports and materials produced to support citizen engagement are available on a website.