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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nTwo significant effects emerged from the research, (a) the gap influenced by age and gender, and (b) what we have termed “the hurt generation”, affecting those between the ages of 30 and 45. Briefly, these factors help us understand our society from a broader perspective. On the one side, (a) understanding the role of gender differentiating attitudes and preferences among young people reveals that women’s responses across age groups show greater similarity and differ significantly from men of the same age, especially among younger generations. Meanwhile, (b) the critical stance toward institutional models among a generation that was politically socialized during the 2008 economic crisis underscores the relevance of the historical context shaping political views. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building on these insights and acknowledging the various ways of representing “other political models,” Ione Ardaiz, Projects Lead at Arantzazulab, shared the experiences that Arantzazulab has experimented with to strengthen democracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, when discussing citizen involvement in public decision-making, it is important to recognise different levels of participation. We adopted the gradient proposed by the International Association for Public Participation to outline these levels:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Placing these levels on a gradient does not imply that some are more important than others; rather, it is crucial to determine the necessary level of citizen involvement for each case and communicate this clearly from the outset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From this starting framework, Arantzazulab presented different perspectives on strengthening democracy that we have begun to explore. Each approach was discussed in terms of the contribution that can make to explore pathways to specific challenges, its level of citizen participation in the gradient, and key considerations for implementation. The following four approaches were presented: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond these approaches, many other democratic deepening strategies are being implemented nationally and internationally. Arantzazulab aims to gather these methods and continue fostering their applications in our own context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the small group discussions, participants enriched the conversation by offering insights and raising new questions. Despite the assumption of a general lack of strong attachment to political participation, youth-led mobilisation movements (such as feminist and LGTBI+ activism) were recognised as particularly influential. This may reflect broader societal shifts in values and concerns, prompting deeper reflection on social activation processes. The need for empowered reactivation was identified, along with a clear desire\u2014both among the organising team and attendees\u2014to create and strengthen avenues of civic responsibility. While disaffection is often expressed as frustration with what is lacking in the political model, many participants also pointed to “inverse disaffection”\u2014where individuals lose interest in social and public affairs, creating a two-way gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citizen conversations reaffirmed the importance of recognising people\u2019s capabilities. When the desire to make decisions differently arises, it is essential to ensure that bottom-up processes are in place. Citizens have a clear understanding of their community’s needs and the pathways to address them, each with its own structures and objectives. This also served as a reminder to public institutions seeking to integrate citizen participation: such initiatives must be implemented thoughtfully and effectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In conclusion, sharing knowledge and emerging questions from research with citizens and engaging in discussion with the people is always a valuable exercise, and the experience in Lekeitio was no exception. Moreover, based on the research findings, we took an additional step\u2014not only deepening our understanding of the challenges but also exploring possible responses. The two defining characteristics of Arantzazulab\u2019s approach are, advancing theoretical knowledge of challenges of democracy and facilitating collaborative projects to explore potential solution pathways. Participants appreciated this dual approach and the opportunity to contribute to both dimensions. They also valued the constructive atmosphere that allowed for open and thoughtful dialogue with people from diverse political perspectives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, the session fostered deeper knowledge of local civic engagement and explored pathways to address key questions. It also marked another milestone in connecting the different forms of knowledge and work approaches that we are developing in Arantzazulab\u2019s ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Materials to deepen on this knowledge<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you want to explore the contents presented during the session in more depth, you can download the materials we presented:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Arantzazulab website, you can explore the examples and knowledge we have put into practice with each of these approaches:<\/p>\n\n\n\n –Deliberative Democracy<\/a>:\u00a0This guide compiles knowledge and practical examples of this approach:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Mission-Oriented innovation approach<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Service Design<\/p>\n\n\n\n -Developmental Evaluation<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the rainy morning of January 25th, various members and collaborators of Arantzazulab Democracy Innovation Lab traveled to Lekeitio to present and facilitate a session as part of the Lekeitio 700 initiative. Among the many activities organised to commemorate the 700th anniversary of this coastal town in Biscay, a session was promoted to reflect on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12670\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/arantzazulab.eus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/image-1-1024x540.png\")
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