The health crisis in many ways is instructive. If participatory democracy has always been present in Thionville, it took off again in 2020, driven by the momentum of social networks. “The idea is to use all the tools at our disposal to create proximity between elected officials and citizens,” said Carol Thil deputy mayor delegate for participatory democracy, responsible for working on the issue. A project received the approval of the mayor, Pierre Cuny, at the end of last week.
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A Facebook Live once a month
In times of Covid, exchanging at a distance makes it possible to preserve oneself while maintaining a social link, a communication. Tested and approved during confinement, the Facebook Live hosted by Pierre Cuny and his assistants created a strong link between the team in place and concerned citizens. This thirty-minute discussion time, now instituted, will be the new pillar of participatory democracy 2.0 (in addition to the tools of citizen expression that are Fluicity and Hello, town hall) with a first “conclusive” test last Wednesday. To the 45 questions (un) asked (upstream and live) by Internet users, the mayor responds directly on the Facebook page of the City of Thionville. “We recorded up to 114 people connected simultaneously and 33,000 Internet users affected,” points out Alexandra Weber, chief of staff to the mayor. The new version (in November) will be themed by “centers of interest”: mobility, living environment, environment, security, etc.
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Field actions
Thionville elected officials will continue to survey the city to meet their citizens. March of elected officials, citizens’ meetings, hotlines, public meetings will continue at the same pace and with the same goal: to provoke meetings, exchanges, “to build together the projects of tomorrow”, supports Carol Thil. But the deputy in charge of participatory democracy wants to go even further by organizing “a monthly presence of the municipal team on the Thionville market” to facilitate the exchange with elected officials.
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A neighborhood, an elected referent
“At the height of the health crisis, the elected representatives of Thionville took action around their homes to help vulnerable people, it is this proximity that we want to maintain”, continues the mayor’s chief of staff. Thirty-one neighborhoods have been demarcated, each with a benchmark elected representative. This elected representative will himself rely on a neighborhood referent who will be the guarantor of discussions and the progress of projects. Establishing a “network” will be the priority of this mandate with the creation of a council of wise men, a circle (think tank) of border residents, a participatory budget platform (public / private subsidies) and better investment in the House of Projects.
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