DIARIO DE CAMPO Fecha: 27 de septiembre del

aimed at re-endowing citizenship with a sense of responsibility for their common resources. These travel under the label "active citizenship". However, there are not always clear mechanisms through which active citizenship can be

expressed. They are patchy at best. Forming A Civic Union

To allow citizens to organise and communicate with each other around emergent issues requires an organisation capable of providing them with a platform to do so. We name this a "Civic Union" not as political union, but on the metaphor of a labour union: with no agenda but to represent the interests of its members.

Essential elements are:

• Broad-based membership: anything less so would lack democratic

legitimacy, and be just another special interest organisation.

• Universal individual membership: People need to join as citizens, and

membership should be available to all citizens, including those who work in the public or private sectors. A organisation belonging all citizens would not be a "peak body" for existing formal civil society organisations, or a union of activists around a single issue.

• Low cost of entry: Any organisation will have a costs, but if those costs

translate to a high entry fee, any civic union would tend towards an elite membership. Ideally, membership should be free: but if a membership fee is necessary, it has to be so low that it excludes no-one.

• Platform model: In order for a Civic Union to allow for the expression of the

various forms of active citizenship practiced in the city, the Civic Union should function as platform that enables such expression by allowing citizens to:

o coalesce in groups around issues of common interest o discuss and decide those issues

o organise for collective action.

Implicit in a platform model is the absence of any forced unity. It's in the nature of cities that they contain diverse people, and it may well be that citizens differ on certain issues, and sometimes coalesce into opposing groups. That's

democracy.

• Allowing for nesting: Local parks are the concern of the citizens that use

them. The network of schools or childcare are of concern to the parents of children. Ostrom's design rules require that a large organisations be subdividable into nested structures—whether by geography or function. How To Start

Starting a Civic Union is itself an act of citizenry, and is itself hampered by the absence of a platform to carry out such a formation. How would one go about finding the other citizens interested in being early adopters? Without a Civic Union, that task is likely to be expensive.

Therefore, kicking off a Civic Union will benefit from initial support from organisations who can provide funding, person-power, or communication networks. Key here is to ensure that once established, these funders are happy to withdraw, and don't seek to "own" the platform.

Another key component as what the culture change guru John Kotter calls "a guiding coalition". This is the group that has to be kick off the process of growing the Union. They too have to be guarded against shaping it in their own interests. A Civic Union should be a platform for citizens to express their interests, not be recruited to the interests of the founders.

Examples And Links

To my knowledge there are no fully formed civic unions as described here. However, the components are well developed, and commonplace.

• The idea of "active citizenship" is now widespread, and well-funded.

o https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/active-citizenship- can-change-your-country-better o http://changesuk.net/themes/active-citizenship/ o http://www.skwirk.com/p-c_s-16_u-140_t-413_c-1446/civics-active- citizenship-and-individual-action/nsw/civics-active-citizenship-and- individual-action/issues-in-australian-environments/geographical- issues-and-active-citizenship

• Mechanisms for allowing citizenship to participate directly in city decision- making are being explored. Most significant are innovations emerging from South America:

o https://democracyspot.net/2013/06/10/civil-society-and- participation-in-brazil-a-literature-review/

o http://southasia.oneworld.net/news/participatory-budgeting-in- india-the-pune-experiment#.Vzlb0mP1Yqw

• Unions and alliances of citizens, and of particular classes of citizen:

o http://warrimoo.org

o https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Slum_Dwellers_Federation

• There are a number of software platforms emerging aimed at social connection within a geographical region. Thought not adequate for citizen politics in themselves, they are an important step.

o https://nextdoor.com

o https://cityscapeapp.com/ o https://www.streetlife.com

o https://www.nabo.com.au Specific Policy Recommendations

The formation of any Civic Union will be assisted by a government that sees the advantages of a having citizen concerns and proposals represented by well- organised and structured citizen groups. Policy support might come in two levels:

• A political policy which recognises citizen voice, empowerment and

action as integral to effective and efficient government;

• An administrative policy which orients public servants towards seeing such