Citizen participation strengthens the accountability of public institutions and their ability to protect our rights. It is also a right inscribed in Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Promoting public participation has become a cross-cutting theme in all our programming areas and is a particular focus in the following project.

The Rights Practice is working with the Constitutionalism Research Institute at China University of Political Science and Law and Sciences Po in Paris to stimulate academic debate on public participation and democratic processes. Through piloting and promoting public participation in urban planning decisions, the project also seeks to further participation in practice.

China's vision of a more environmentally sustainable future will need to be responsive to the needs and wishes of its growing urban population. Urban planning has become a highly contested field in China: the aspirations of residents, developers and local governments often conflict and no satisfactory mechanisms exist to help planners consult and reconcile the interests of multiple stakeholders in building sustainable cities.

During the first year of the project, a team of Chinese researchers examined the strengths and weaknesses of existing models of public participation in China. A launch conference in Haikou in December 2006 explored these findings and introduced European experience to an audience of influential political scientists, legal scholars and planners. In 2007 and 2008, the project's partners co-ordinated a series of fellowships and study visits in Europe to look at how European policy and practice can inspire and influence public participation in China. The initiative will later pilot a stakeholder consultation in urban planning.

This program is being funded by the European Commission.