The Finnish Institute in London together with Open Data Institute, Democratic Society, Open Ministry and Embassy of Finland will organise a discussion event on new initiatives to improve citizens’ political participation.

Aleksi Rossi, a co-founder of Finnish NGO Open Ministry, will discuss the status quo of citizen initiatives in Finland and EU. Citizen initiatives have been enshrined in the Finnish constitution since March 2012 - if an initiative receives more than 50.000 signatures, then the Parliament is obliged to discuss and vote on the initiative.

The discussion takes place by analysing open knowledge and open data in the context of citizen initiatives and effective citizen participation. How can governments further empower their citizens to use new technologies in meaningful and effective ways?

After the lecture the room will be opened up for a collective discussion on pros and cons of open policy making and for a collaborative writing exercise, where the participants will work on an action plan on how to promote citizen initiatives and other forms of open policy making in the UK.

Find out more and join the event here.

The Open Data Institute
Friday 28 June 2013, 1pm