Participatory Democracy - The World Conference on Developing Cities-Autonomous Movements in Solidarity

DRAFT
While I was in Porto Alegre I was lucky to find out that there was a conference. The "World Conference on Developing Cities was and I decided to extend my time there as it was of utmost relevance to my research . The Conference covered 4 different themes that were addressed 4 days of the conference. There were large panels as well as small workshops and panels. The conference was hosted at PUCCI the large private state University of Porto Alegre. The themes

• The Right to the City-Local Policies and the Right and Responsibilities of Citizens
• Governance and Democracy in Cities-Experiences of Democratic Participation
• Local Development in Cities – Processes of Investment in Social Capital to Develop Economic, Environmental, Human, Social and Political Assets
• Sustainability and the Network-City – The Emergence of Social Networks and the Sustainable City of the Future

I was only able to attend 3 of these days. The conference itself had allot of investors- people representing banks and other organizations that were eager to network and talk about their new strategies and approaches to "development".Municipal employees from the City of Porto Alegre as well as people of academia. It is sad to admit that I saw allot of people who should have been at this conference not there. There were very little youth, students, there was very little participation at the level of workers. There were allot of people in suits and ties and quite frankly to me it felt a bit elitist and not so accessible of an event. How could it be when you have to pay $75 to attend. That is the student discount. Maybe the event was not supposed to attract the average citizens of Porto Alegre, but I was definitely aware of the lack of their presence. The major panels talked about the experience of Participatory Democracy and what kinds of changes it brought at various levels. Within the smaller workshops I attended I heard a number of discrepencies about the experience with Participatory Budgeting.

A few of the things I learned is that there is still a need to get people involved in the process. I would hear allot of adults complaining that the younger generations seem to express little interest with engaging in the process or councils.
I also learned that many people felt that there was a big gap between practice and theory of Participatory Democracy. It was felt by many that the city was also welcoming large scale corporations and companies to do business here without addressing accessibility and development of the poorer areas.

I remember one comment made by a gentlemen presenting in a panel when answering a question about lack of budgeting for programs that he was sick of hearing this question. His answer was that "we have to stop thinking like Americans." We must not always ask ourselves where the money will come from. We have to organize our communities on our own. There is so much we are able to do at the grassroots level without always getting aid. The important thing for us to do is think and be creative. We can come up with solutions to problems without having allot of money. We can use resources that are already there.

After thinking about this for awhile it occurred to me how much I saw this true of my experience with IPDAE. The organizations was able to be extremely resourceful and able to do allot with very little.

THe process of Participatory Democracy however has inspired many to take on tasks on thei own. There is a culture of civic engagement here. Though it is far from ideal. It has been able to overcome some pretty large battles and open an atmosphere of discourse and debate.

The last day of the conference I witnessed and documented a protest by a contingent of various organizations that were protesting the conference as a event which represented the lack of accessibility by the poor. The protesters asked to be let into the conference and campus. There was street theater and a number of Autonomous organizations expressing their anger at the fact that reps from the World Bank were inside talking about "development" and not addressing huge concerns by Indigenous communities and people that have felt that upheaval and pains of structural adjustment and unfair competition which has private investors yet makes it harder for the poor to survive with the increased competition.

I was happy to see the youth in the street with the people. They weren't in the conference because they were in touch with the people's concerns. I got the same vibe at the conference. Even though the conference had a number of amazing speakers and ideas were generated , debated and shared which is crucial, I still kept in mind how much of a fragment of actual change was being represented. In the next few days I hope to update this particular blog about some of the lessons learned from communities around the world applying new solutions to civic engagement and development at the local level. It was exhilarating to see that there are alternatives being explored around the world. Little miracles every day by the people proving the alternative is a reality , it is crucial and it is where we are going... collectively!

World Conference on Developing Cities Link