Included Communities

Sixty representatives (40 of whom were local councillors) from eighteen North East Local Authorities and Fire & Rescue Services attended the Included Communities event held on 18 January 2008 at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland.

The event, which was the second in the three-part series of events held as part of the Community Leadership and eDemocracy Programme, looked at how new technologies can be used to enhance engagement in local communities.

In addition to hearing about progress in the Community Leadership and eDemocracy Project (Ben Rowland) and an update on the Councillors Commission Report (Andrew De'Ath), delegates heard from Councillor Mary Reid on how eDemocracy games, online petitions and social networking sites can engage children and young adults in democracy. Attendees were also shown practical examples of successful online communities in sessions showcasing The Coalfield Forum, Washington Pride and the North Lincolnshire Community Portal.

The day ended with a Q&A session which covered a variety of topics including:

• Discussion of the level of IT training that Local Authorities and/or political parties should provide to Councillors
• Debate on who is given responsibility in determining the suitability of groups wishing to be listed on Community Websites and who is then responsible for monitoring/censoring the content of each group's web-pages
• Consideration of how online tools can be used in Council decision-making to ease time pressures for Councillors

The Community Leadership and eDemocracy Programme is sponsored by the Improvement Partnership for North East Local Government and the International Centre of Excellence for Local eDemocracy (ICELE)

Scroll down to view presentations from the day and find out how to book your place at the final event being held on Friday 14 March 2008 at Durham County Cricket Club (Chester-le-Street)

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