Falun, a small city known for mining and winter sports, is developing a new approach to citizen participation – with lessons that can be learned in the UK

The mining city of Falun, may be one of Sweden's smaller cities but in the late 19th century it was home to Selma Lagerlöf, the first female writer to win a Nobel prize. An active member of the growing suffrage movement in Sweden, Lagerlöf spoke in favour of women's right to vote.

Today, Falun still has a strong connection to its democratic roots. Åke Hestner, a teacher who has taught in a secondary school in the city for 23 years, wanted to find a better way for money to be controlled in his school, which would also drive down costs.

Last October, in front of the school board and local governing bodies, he argued for his school to become a local independent school – under local government control but with more freedom over its own spending. Hestner was able to get his idea off the ground thanks to support from the city council and is one of a growing number of individuals who have accessed Falun's Democracy City programme, an initiative launched in 2011 to make sure "every voice is heard".

The programme was triggered by news that Falun would host the FIS Nordic world ski championships in 2015. However, many of the town's 37,291 population weren't happy at not being given the chance to vote on the decision. The democracy city proposal was put forward to offer citizens greater involvement in decision making leading up to the event.

The project is still in its early stages, but since its launch has been expanded to include areas of local government such as education and infrastructure. The chair of Falun's democracy council, Bruno Kaufmann, said there were five objectives: to build democracy centres in libraries where people can hold meetings; the introduction of 'democracy navigators', people who can advise residents on how to bring their idea forward; a democracy website; and getting more young people involved in democracy and building networks to push active participation.

One main democracy centre has already been set up in city's central library with seven smaller centres elsewhere. A mobile centre in a bus has also been introduced to inform people about how they can get involved in local decision making. Kaufmann says the democracy navigators are unique because they have expertise to advise in a number of areas such as jurisdiction. The plan is now to build on this infrastructure over the next few years.

"This wouldn't be very expensive," says Kaufmann, with difficulties "more about cultural differences than technological or political ones."

However, he adds: "Everyone was shocked by Hestner's success. He is not a party member or in parliament and he got the local parliament behind his proposal."

Another active citizen, Erik Eriksson, is now working with Kaufmann to create a citizens' group that will evaluate how arrangements for the ski championships were made and how costs can be distributed to protect the city's finances.

Sweden ranks second in the world for democratic participation. Two years ago, a new Swedish constitution gave citizens the right to launch an initiative at local or provincial government level provided that 10% of voters support it.

Jessika Wide, professor of political science at Umeå University, in north Sweden, says that despite the country's high voter turnout (85% in the 2010 elections, compared to 65% in the UK), there is still a "decline in interest in party politics" as there is in most western countries. The Democracy City proposal gives citizens a voice at local and national level, she says. Kaufmann says involving people in central politics through localism is "an important part of our approach."

Nicholas Aylott, lecturer in political science at Södertörn University, in Stockholm, thinks Falun's initiative is interesting but is sceptical about what he describes as "between-election democracy".

"Most men and women over 30 juggle work and family in a pretty equal way. It's not clear to me that many people have much time for between-elections democratic engagement."

Kaufmann, however, believes the more participation, the better. "The more people are involved, the more sustainable and the more responsible things are because then you don't just watch what is going on you become part of it."

In the UK, turnout for the 2012 local elections in the UK the turnout was 33%, the worst percentage since 2000 and a recent report by the Democratic Audit, said democracy was in "perpetual decline". Anthony Zacharzewski founder of The Democratic Society, a non-partisan membership organisation, says a Democracy City approach could work in the UK.

"The UK shares the same challenge as a lot of European countries: that government systems, particularly political parties are losing respect and trust. They are being replaced by a sense of desire for personalised policy that traditional politics is unable to deliver.

"Governments need to invest in open infrastructure for democratic participation, ensuring that the systems they use are transparent and interoperable ... There are examples of the things being introduced in Sweden here already, but no single project bringing them together. The idea of assembling lots of micro projects into a connected democracy approach is a really good one, and I would hope some places around the UK will be inspired by the work in Falun."

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