Lombardy Archives - TRANSFORM

17 November 2022

Sala Pirelli – Palazzo Pirelli, Via Fabio Filzi, 22 Milano, Italy

On 17 November 2022, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti, Region Lombardy and Finlombarda will host their final regional event to showcase the outcomes of the Lombardy regional cluster of the TRANSFORM project. The meeting will be an opportunity to present TRANSFORM’s journey in Lombardy and its contribution to regional Research and Innovation policies, but also to talk more broadly about the role of citizens in policy making on issues such as data-driven innovation and the fair energy transition for all.

Do you want to know more? Do not hesitate to register.

ABOUT THE EVENT

The event will then focus on TRANSFORM activities in Lombardy and the issues addressed in the citizen engagement journey. In addition to in-person participation, the meeting will be broadcast online on the Open Innovation website.

Opening session

Welcome by Fabrizio Sala, Vice-President and Councilor for Education, University, Research, Innovation and Simplification of Lombardy Region
Introduction to the day’s theme by Piero Bassetti, president of Fondazione Giannino Bassetti
Overview of the TRANSFORM project by Angela Simone, TRANSFORM coordinator, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti
Region’s perspective on the importance of integrating the voices of citizens in regional research and innovation policies by Elisabetta Confalonieri, Directorate General for Education, Universities, Research, Innovation and Simplification

Participatory research agenda setting

Defining the regional strategic research and innovation agenda in a participatory way: the first set of participatory activities focused on the theme of the just energy transition by Anna Pellizzone, project manager, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti
How to integrate citizens’ ideas and needs into regional strategies: Lombardy’s Three-Year Strategic Program for Research, Innovation and Technology Transfer by Silvia Corbetta, Finlombarda
Key note speech: “Just Ecological Transition for All. The role of citizens and society” by Enrico Giovannini, Professor at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”

TRANSFORM Citizen Jury

Results of the TRANSFORM Citizens Jury dedicated to responsible smart mobility by Anna Pellizzone, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti
Integration of citizens’ recommendations into smart mobility policies in the Lombardy Region by Matteo Pozzetti, Directorate General for Education, Universities, Research, Innovation and Simplification, Lombardy Region
Key note: Role that citizens can play – reflection on accountability issues related to data-driven services, including aspects of privacy and data protection (some of the elements considered most important by TRANSFORM’s Citizens’ Jury participants) by Guido Scorza, a member of the Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali

Discussion and closing remarks

TRANSFORM results and citizen participation in Research and Innovation decision-making by Agnes Allansdottir, University of Siena, a scholar of the relationship between science and society and an expert in methodologies for consulting citizens and monitoring public opinion on the impact of technologies and technosciences, chosen by the Region as one of the ten components of the Regional Forum for Innovation and Scientific Research 2018-2021
Closing remarks by Angela Simone, TRANSFORM coordinator, Fondazione Giannino Bassetti

Learn more about the Lombardy cluster here.

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Photo by Mikita Yo on Unsplash.

After the online participatory process concluded in 2021, the Lombardy cluster is now implementing an in-person public deliberation in the form of a Citizens’ Jury.

The Citizens’ Jury on Responsible Smart Mobility takes place on two non-consecutive Saturdays, 11 June and 25 June, in Milan.

The objective? Within the framework of the Regional Strategy on Smart Mobility and Artificial Intelligence Lombardy Region is currently working on the implementation of innovative actions towards a regional responsible data-driven smart mobility. The citizens’ jury will gather citizens’ views on the collection, use and sharing of open data and issue recommendations to shape regional policies and initiatives on this topic.

24 randomly selected citizens from Lombardy come together to deliberate on recommendations for the Lombardy region on responsible (data-driven) smart mobility services in the territory. In the first day, taking place on 11^thJune, the citizens met experts from the fields of big data and artificial intelligence, open data, smart mobility, privacy, digital rights and techno-surveillance and gender, data and mobility, providing transparent information and delving into the topic. In the second day, to be held on 25^th June, the citizens’ jury will discuss and deliberate on suggestions for regional policy makers on relevant societal and ethical issues around data-driven mobility in Lombardy.

What is a citizens’ jury?

Citizens’ juries are a tool to engage citizens on a range of issues. A citizen jury is a method of deliberation developed by the Jefferson Center where a small group of people (between 12 and 24), representative of the demographics of a given area, come together to deliberate on an issue (generally one clearly framed question), over the period of 2 to 7 days. Their small size allows for effective deliberation, but they are sufficiently diverse and citizens are exposed to a wide range of perspectives.

Source: INVOLVE

Photo by Polina Chistyakova from Pexels.

The ideas and recommendations gathered during the event contributed to the definition of Regione Lombardia’s strategic plan.

After the survey conducted in April 2021, the citizen engagement activities carried out within the TRANSFORM project continued with the organisation and testing of an online deliberative workshop. The event took place on the Zoom platform on 29 May and involved 18 Lombardy residents. This methodology, which has been widely applied in various countries and on various issues, consists of a meeting in which a small group of people is asked to express their opinions in an extensive manner on a specific topic. The deliberative workshop follows a structured dialogue format and begins with an information and learning phase.

For an in-depth look at participatory methodologies and their application in Europe, click here to download the OECD report “Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions: Catching the Deliberative Wave”.

Just ENERGY TRANSITION for all

The theme of the TRANSFORM workshop, the Just Energy Transition for All, was selected by the project partners based on the citizens’ interests and needs that emerged from the survey – the first step of the participatory process – and allowed the topic of sustainability to be explored in all its dimensions, including the social one. With the support of an agency specialised in this type of activity, the citizens that were called to participate in the workshop were selected in a balanced way considering gender, age group and province of residence. The discussion, which was moderated by professional facilitators, was structured and divided into plenary sessions (with the full group of 18 participants) and moments of dialogue in smaller subgroups (each with 6 participants).

The workshop opened with an informative phase, during which the theme of energy transition was introduced via a video interview with Nicola Armaroli, who is the Research Director of the Italian National Research Council in Bologna, one of the most-cited Italian experts in the international literature on this topic. Afterwards, Luca Donelli, President of the Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster (LE2C), spoke in an online session, illustrating through a presentation the technological solutions and lines of research that can be introduced to facilitate the energy transition, focusing in particular on the initiatives and strategy in place at regional level. The expert then remained at the participants’ disposal to answer their questions and interests (e.g. on the future prospects of hydrogen).

In the discussion concerning the actions to be taken to start the energy transition in Lombardy, the citizens identified 10 macro-areas, of which 3 were designated as priorities:

education, training and job innovation;
better services and green incentives for housing (public and private);
and digitalisation of PA.

For each selected macro-area, they then analysed issues and opportunities related to “social justice”: the need to retrain workers engaged in non-renewable energy chains, as well as opportunities for new green jobs; difficulties in providing information and accessing existing incentives, and; problems related to the digital divide and especially the digital literacy of the older population.

Finally, participants produced a set of recommendations in the three priority areas discussed, aiming to facilitate the training or retraining of professionals, to address and solve the complexity of the mechanisms related to the use of incentives in order to render them more accessible and to support the needs of the older population in using digital services.

The event was a success. The considerations and ideas that emerged during the participatory event provided Lombardy Region and Finlombarda with useful elements for writing the 2021-2023 Strategic Programme for research, innovation and technological transfer (STP), which was approved on 19 October.

Moreover, in the evaluation questionnaires filled out following the close of the event, the participants expressed great satisfaction, both for the format of the deliberative workshop and “the innovative opportunity that the Lombardy Region has given citizens to express their opinion on an important issue such as sustainability and ecological transition”, confirming the positive effects of this type of initiative on the relationship between citizens and public institutions.

Click here to download the workshop report.

Older Posts

Citizens’ voice in R&I policymaking in Lombardy. The final event of the EU H2020 TRANSFORM project on 17 November

Citizens’ jury on responsible smart mobility in Lombardy

“Just energy transition for all”, the TRANSFORM project’s deliberative workshop

Just ENERGY TRANSITION for all