Governments are increasingly being called upon to be more inclusive and open when formulating policy and to have viable channels to engage citizens in decision-making process.
Open and inclusive policy making means that the institutions are transparent in decision making processes that they can be easily approached and hence accessible and that they respond adequately to the many views and concerns of their citizens. This necessarily calls for greater engagement between the governments and their constituencies and such a direct relationship will further enhance accountability, transparency and development, as well as ownership of national priorities.
Governance is no longer the domain of national governments alone but it’s becoming more and more evident that the concrete contribution from additional stakeholders such as civil society is of crucial importance.
Governments are key political players and remain powerful, however, citizens and civil society are coming up with many responses in order to engage in decision-making processes.
Governments must invest adequate time, resources and commitment in building robust legal, policy and institutional frameworks, developing appropriate tools and evaluating their own performance in engaging citizens in policy-making. Poorly designed and inadequate measures for information, consultation and active participation in policy-making can undermine government-citizens relations.
Strengthening relations with citizens is a sound investment in better policy-making and a core element of good governance. It allows governments to tap new sources of policy-relevant ideas, information and resources when making decisions. Equally important, it contributes to building public trust in government, raising the quality of democracy and strengthening civic capacity.

Main topics of the Seminar:
The Seminar will discuss the following topics:
• Supporting a constructive dialogue between institutions and citizens for a better policy-making and good governance.
• The role of ICT in facilitating information sharing o across government and with citizens.
• The effect of e-government in providing a more citizen-centric services focused on multiple delivery channels/ access, choice according to citizens requirements .
• The impact of increasing the awareness of citizens in building trust between citizens and government.

The last day of the seminar will include a field visit to the District Council of Caserta, and meeting with the President of the District Council and local authorities.