Vienna, 27 February 2023 – The Innovation in Politics Awards are proud to announce the finalists for this year’s prestigious awards which are assigned in 8 categories. From 337 submitted political projects from 26 countries, our jury of 1045 citizens has selected 80 finalists, 10 for each category. The winners will be announced at the Awards Gala on 11 May 2023, at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Poland.
Since 2017, the Innovation in Politics Awards are presented annually to honour courageous and creative political work throughout Europe – regardless of party or country, recognizing groundbreaking political initiatives that significantly impact people’s lives and strengthen democracy.
The finalists represent a diverse range of innovative ideas that are making a real difference in their communities. They come from all levels of government, from local to national, and cover a broad range of categories.
The projects judged as exemplary by the international jury are (in alphabetical order per category):
DEMOCRACY
- 4 Day Week Campaign, United Kingdom
- Improving the Living Environment in Kedainiai District Municipality, Lithuania
- Innovation.linz.at – Citizen Participation Platform, Austria
- Megafon – My Voice for My Neighbourhood, Belgium
- Nothing about youth without youth!, Lithuania
- Participatory Methods in the Process of Revitalisation, Poland
- Politik Akademie der Vielfalt (Politics Academy of Diversity, Germany
- Vienna Climate Teams, Austria
- WoMeN’s Regional Caucus, Ireland
- Youth Travel Card, Ireland
CLIMATE PROTECTION
- Amorgorama, Greece
- Hamburger Gründachstrategie (Hamburg’s Green Roof Strategy), Germany
- Just Go Zero Tilos, Greece
- Mettons fin au #GaspillageAlimentaire en Europe! (#StopFoodWaste in Europe!), France
- People-Owned Wind Turbine Against Fuel Poverty, United Kingdom
- Poligono Circular, Spain
- Rexcatering – for intelligent food consumption, Spain
- Rybnik’s Model of Action for Sustainable Consumption and Production, Poland
- Tamarinden – where people meet and buildings share energy, Sweden
- Tirana Orbital Forest, Albania
DEMOCRACY TECHNOLOGIES
- Digital Participation in Legislation in Latvia, Latvia
- Gdynia Dialogue Platform, Poland
- Helsinki Youth Budget – Participatory Budgeting with Youth, Finland
- Kyiv Digital – Public Services and E-Democracy in one App, Ukraine
- Open Parliament TV, Germany
- Participatory Budgeting in Rybnik, Poland
- PLACEm – the Democracy-App, Germany
- Smart Maps – Information at a glance, Slovakia
- The Local Level of Rahvaalgatus.ee – People’s Initiative, Estonia
- Valongo Switch to Innovation, Portugal
GOVERNMENT IMPROVEMENT
- Bridging the Digital Gap (AL21, Cyberkiosks, and Smart Centres), Spain
- BRISE-Vienna, Austria
- Communication without barriers, Slovakia
- Design-Thinking Reform of Support Measures in the Estonian Public Sector, Estonia
- Easy-to-Read: enhancing information accessibility in the public sector, Lithuania
- Gdynia – Deaf-Friendly City, Poland
- Suomi.fi Quality Tools, Finland
- TEP – Transparency in Private Entities, Spain
- Vorarlberg mitdenken & Bürger*innenrat – Faire Wahlen (Digital Consultation Platform & Citizens Council – Fair Elections), Austria
- War & Sanctions Database, Ukraine
SOCIAL COHESION
- Anstellung und Bezahlte Pflege für Angehörige – Employment and paid care for relatives, Austria
- Creative Home(less), Lithuania
- Feel Free, Belgium
- HEROES Berlin – against oppression in the name of honour, Germany
- Housing and Work for the Homeless, Greece
- OV-Coaches for Public Transport, The Netherlands
- Points4Action, Austria
- Second Home for Ukraine – Connecting Communities, Organisations and Individuals in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- Solution for Vertical Transportation-Assistance, France
- The Family Card, Spain
LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
- Cultural H.ID.RA.N.T. (Cultural Hidden IDentities ReAppear through Networks of WaTer), Greece
- H22: the making of a smarter, thoughtful, and sustainable city, Sweden
- Improving Energy Efficiency in Lithuania, Lithuania
- International House Vilnius, Lithuania
- Kindred LCR, United Kingdom
- Madrid Innovation Sandbox, Spain
- MAGMA : the world’s first job guarantee project for long-term unemployed, Austria
- Mobilli – accelerating a modal shift to public transport at a regional level, Belgium
- Reims Grand Centre, France
- Wiener Gusto: the new organic brand from the City of Vienna, Austria
EDUCATION
- Ausbildungscampus (Training Campus): Advise, Education, Accompaniment, Encounter, Social Cohesion, Germany
- Creating STEAM – An Open-Access Centre, Lithuania
- Digital Transformation of Education (EdTech), Lithuania
- Entrepreneurial Kids, Poland
- Escuela de Pequeñ@s Cientific@s Espiciencia (School of Little Scientists), Spain
- future_fabric: demokratie digital denken (thinking democracy digitally), Germany
- HackShield in the Class, The Netherlands
- Municipal University of Ilion: paving the way towards a sustainable learning city, Greece
- Preschoolers from Ostrów Wielkopolski Catch the Rain, Poland
- Sophia: the world’s first chatbot for survivors of domestic violence, Switzerland
PARTY INNOVATION
- Brand New Bundestag, Germany
- Camp Bratislava – Embracing emerging leaders, Slovakia
- Empowering a Party for Agile Interactions, Germany
- Engaging Citizens in Deliberative Assemblies and Presenting their Proposals in the Brussels’ Parliament, Belgium
- Il fera beau demain – Mouvement positif (Tomorrow will be Sunny – Positive Movement), Belgium
- JoinPolitics: empowering more talent to join politics and incubate innovative approaches for party politics, Germany
- Online Voting in the Hungarian Opposition Primaries, Hungary
- Podemos Participation System, Spain
- Policy Sprint: fostering cross-party collaboration for effective political solutions, Switzerland
- Primarie Siciliane del Campo Progressista (Progressive Primaries in Sicily), Italy
“We are thrilled to announce the finalists for this year’s Innovation in Politics Awards,” said Josef Zehetner, Head of Awards and Project Manager. “The participating projects this year were very diverse and very impressive, so it was a difficult task for the jurors to narrow it down to just 80. These selected finalists demonstrate the power of innovation in politics.”
The finalists will attend the convention and gala on 11 May at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, where the winners in the eight categories will be announced. More than 500 guests from politics, business and culture from all over Europe are expected for this evening.
The Innovation in Politics Awards are presented and organised by the Innovation in Politics Institute. Founded in 2017, they have become a leading platform for innovative politicians and citizens to share and exchange ideas on the development and improvement of democracy.
For more information about the finalists and the Innovation in Politics Awards, please visit innovationinpolitics.eu/awards2023
Contact:
Josef Zehetner
jz@innovationinpolitics.eu
Head of Awards and Project Manager
Denica Yotova
dy@innovationinpolitics.eu
Social Media Marketing Manager
