INTERFACED is a three year Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action Project funded by European Research Executive Agency under the project number: 101178268

The full project name is Interfaces for Democratic Participation: Deliberation, Mobilization and Contestation Since the Onset of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Project acronym: INTERFACED
It was published under the call: HORIZON-CL2-2024-DEMOCRACY-01

INTERFACED investigates the diverse forms of political participation that have emerged in response to increasing protest, democratic and scientific mistrust, and societal divisions exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The project aims to reinvigorate democratic governance and empower inclusive citizenship by examining the interfaces between citizens and representative institutions. By analyzing the capacity of these interfaces to include citizens in decision-making, INTERFACED will use a combination of surveys, experiments, and qualitative methods to explore the impact of these forms of participation. The project spans eight European countries and Tunisia, focusing on enhancing citizen-government relations and providing policy recommendations to engage the least advantaged social groups.

Project Duration: 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2027

The consortium working on the project is coordinated by the CITY ST. GEORGE’S, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (CITY) and sees the participation of:

EDGERYDERS OU (EDGE)
UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID (UC3M)
UNIVERSITATEA BABES-BOLYAI (UBB)
HUN-REN TARSADALOMTUDOMANYI KUTATOKOZPONT (CSS HUN-REN)
UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PARMA (UNIPR)
KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET (UCPH)
JOHANN WOLFGANG GOETHE-UNIVERSITAET FRANKFURT AM MAIN (GUF)
DUBLIN CITY UNIVERSITY (DCU)
EUROPEAN CITIZEN ACTION SERVICE (ECAS)
JASMIN FOUNDATION (JFRC)

Objectives

Understand political participation post-pandemic: Classify types of non-electoral political participation in eight European countries and Tunisia, assessing how these forms of participation have evolved during the pandemic
Analyze participation patterns: Evaluate who participates, why, and how, focusing on intersecting inequalities such as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and gender. It involves ethnographic observations and surveys
Examine political discourses: Investigate how different political actors (e.g., social movements, institutions) discuss participation and address inequalities
Evaluate media’s role: Analyze how the media has covered protests and non-electoral participation, assessing its portrayal of disadvantaged groups
Investigate digital participation: Examine online platforms, including social media, and their role in facilitating non-electoral political participation
Institutional Impact: Explore how these participation interfaces feed into institutional decision-making, particularly in relation to policymaking and trust in democratic institutions
Policy proposals: Develop policies to enhance relations between citizens and democratic governments, especially for disadvantaged groups, and mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic on democratic trust

Edgeryders’ role

Edgeryders is hosting a community-driven online forum to explore the political participation of disadvantaged and disengaged citizens, particularly in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
We aim to gather insights on the challenges faced by marginalized groups, including youth, and evaluate how various participation interfaces work across different political contexts in Europe and Tunisia. Through participant interactions and ethnographic methods, we seek to deepen our understanding of political participation trends and identify ways to strengthen citizens’ engagement with democratic institutions.

How to participate

“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.”

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