EPACE Active Citizenship Conference on 10 - 11 June in Helsinki, Finland

The Active Citizenship conference was held in the framework of the EPACE project (Exchanging good practices for the promotion of an active citizenship in the EU) which is coordinated by the Ministry of Justice Finland and supported by the European Commission.

The conference disseminated the outcomes of the EPACE project which is due to end in July 2010. General themes of the conference related to assessing and evaluating democratic processes and policies as well as to international democracy exchange and collaboration (see Conference Programme). The EPACE Conference was opened by Minister of Justice Tuija Brax.

Minister of Justice, Tuija Brax

Among speakers were Professor Ann Macintosh (University of Leeds), Michael Remmert (Council of Europe), Keboitse Machanga (International IDEA), David Mathews (European Institute for Public Participation) as well as David Mc Clure (the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Citizen Services and Communications OCSC).

In addition, the European Democracy Exchange Network (EDEN) for central government officers had its launch meeting in conjunction with the conference.

The first conference day was divided in two; the first part consisted of presentations by invited speakers. The second part was made up by two parallel sessions, where the participants heard and discussed the best practises and pilot projects of EPACE. The first day's keynote speakers told about citizen participation from various viewpoints; for example, deliberative practises, participation of vulnerable groups, e-participation and the stands of Council of Europe were addressed.


David Mathews, Johanna Suurpää, Sari Aalto-Matturi


Michael Remmert, Johanna Suurpää, Ann Macintosh

The second conference day focused on measuring democracy. The conference participants were familiarized with the measurement framework of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. Herman Scholten, Head of the Unit for Democracy and Citizenship, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations told about The Netherlands experiences on applying it. Other topics of the day were democracy education and the Open Government Initiative in the United States.

Over 70 people from Finland and other European countries participated in the conference.

Keboitse Machangana, Marcus Brixskiöld, Herman Scholten


David McClure

Conference Presentations

Sari Aalto-Matturi

David Mathews

Johanna Suurpää

Ann Macintosh

Michael Remmert

Keboitse Machangana

Herman Scholten

Björn Wallen

David McLure

Working group presentations

Ivar Tallo

Liia Hänni

Liia Hänni

Antti Poikola

Laura Ahokas 1

Laura Ahokas 2

Saila Tykkyläinen

Hannu Nieminen

Monimos