This AIMday is a part of the event Local Democracy Academy, December 14 – 18, 2020
Global Disruptions and Local Democracy for a Post-Covid World – Connecting research and practice
The ICLD Local Democracy Academy is an academic programme that brings together an international group of leading scholars, doctoral students, post-doctoral scholars, junior researchers, local policy makers and government officials for an intensive week of mutual learning, critical thinking and joint exploration of new ideas and approaches to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The academy provides a unique setting to:
- Connect leading scholars to share ideas and provide innovative policy recommendations.
- Provide policy labs for researchers, leading policymakers and practitioners to discuss concrete problems experienced by local governments and provide possible solutions.
- Collaborate across disciplines, draw comparisons, and initiate special journal issues, joint policy briefs, edited books, and other publications.
- Build supportive and amicable networks
Theme: Global Disruptions and Local Democracy for a Post-Covid World
2020 has been characterized by disruptions, all of which are simultaneously global and local. The global spread of Covid-19 has very different local level ramifications and responses everywhere, depending on geography and socioeconomic context. Local governments are simultaneously challenged by the climate crises, the rise of protest and civil unrest, increase racial, gender and class inequality, and the decline in human rights protections, among others. Parallel to this, citizens in many countries, and many cities, have been taking to the streets to protest unjust treatment by the authorities. These protests have been local in their focus but global in their scope and have opened up the space for the re-imagining of citizen engagement.
The 2020 Local Democracy Academy will explore how is local democracy affected because of different disruptions and what are possible transformative pathways?
Sessions
The academy is organised around interactive and participatory sessions. Participants are expected to contribute, read, write, and actively engage during the entire week. The academy is divided into the following sessions:
Thematic streams: for in-depth discussions of work in progress.
- The effects of Covid-19 on local democracy and the role of local government
- Human Rights Cities as a response to exclusion
- Inclusive Local Governments: creating a new social contract
- Governing with integrity and transparency: replacing norms that subvert local democracy
- Local government accountability in times of disruption
- Local democracy in the fight against climate change
- Achieving gender-equal municipalities
- Decentralization and local autonomy in times of crises
Training sessions
a) Netnography: understanding social interaction in digital communication
b) Digital methods to research local democracy
c) Communicating research to society: a workshop with The Conversation
Local Policy Makers Dialogue
This is a space for local government officers and politicians to meet researchers and have a dialogue on issues of common interest. Local governments can participate this day by sending a question they want to discuss with a group of competent and leading researchers in the field of local democracy. The format for this day is: one question, one hour, one group. It is simple and does not require special preparation, all questions are welcomed, and the conversations are moderated by the ICLD team.
Social events
During the last day of the Academy we will share a virtual meal led by an experienced chef.