Beyond Participation – Smart Civic Engagement in the Urban Field The Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo & The Israel Urban Forum

The Beyond Participation side event continues a discussion that began in the HABITATIII Thematic Meeting in Tel Aviv-Yafo, presenting the Urban Civic Engagement Declaration.   Civic Engagement is the key to a City for All and a New Urban Agenda, rooted in the history of the city and providing a bridge to the future. In the "Beyond Participation" event, we will seek new frontiers of urban democracy, as public participation turns into civic engagement highlighting creative initiatives in Israel's urban context.    The Tel Aviv-Yafo – Smart Civic Engagement model – harnessing technology and innovation to create new platforms for participation and cooperation between the municipality and the community. The Israeli Urban Forum – The Israel Urban Forum was created in order to provide a cross-sectorial and interdisciplinary debate on the topics of city and urbanity.  The Urban Caucus - The role of the supreme democratic national arena in depicting a local urban agenda. MK Tamar Zandberg, head of the Urban Caucus, of the Israeli Parliament, will present new initiatives for local-national partnerships, and collaborative agenda setting. The Jerusalem Community Councils - a unique system of 28 decentralized neighborhood-level governance managing community life across the city, through dedicated committees prioritizing qualitative and accessible public space and cultural diversity.   The purpose of the side event is to critically assess the vital contributions to urbanism by members of civil society from all sectors.  The side event  will invite an international network of civic society and local governance from cities around the world, as well as representatives of academia, activists and ngo's around the world to join our discussion in the intimate setting of a series of round table discussions.