In preparation for Brazil’s second national conference on civil protection on Civil Protection which will be held in Brasilia in November 2014, the country launched, on 11 August 2014, a virtual platform, open to all citizens, to participate in the discussions surrounding public policies that deal with civil protection and civil defense issues. The process, which will be implemented with the help of the online portal “e-democracia” is expected to produce 10 principles and 30 trajectories for the organisation of the conference.
In a first phase, lasting from 11 to 22 August, six discussion fora will be moderated, that revolve around thematic clusters such as integrated disaster risk management; integration of different policies related to civil protection and civil defense; knowledge management for civil protection; promotion of a civil defense culture; and search for resilient cities.There will be also arenas for general and conceptual discussions and a forum for comments that go beyond the pre-defiend themes.
Proposals and ideas submitted will be displayed on a virtual pinboard, where participants can rearrange entries received in an open and participatory process. In a second phase, from 23 to 23 August, participants will proceed to prioritizing entries discussed in the first phase. This stage will produce the principles and trajectories that will inform the proposals to be taken to the national level. On 27-29 August participants can assess and evaluate the process they have been part of. Throughout the process experts and professionals will be offering lectures and will be available for questions.
The e-portal used for the consultation was developed by the “Hacker Laboratory” of the Federal Parliament and had been used successfully in previous participatory exercises of a similar kind. This online phase was preceded, throughout the first half of the year, by public consultations in 22 federal states, which attracted some 6,000 and produced 880 submissions of ideas and proposals.
Check the e-portall here: http://edemocracia.camara.gov.br/web/2cnpdc/inicio