Best Practice in Politics
We curate exemplary political work that successfully tackles today’s most pressing issues. This platform is a hub of tried and tested best practices in politics.

Community Mobilisation through Children
The initiative engages with rural communities by having schools be the central focus for encounters between adults, youth, and children.

Participatory Budget in Alytus: bringing more democracy and responsibility to the City’s residents
In Alytus, citizen involvement happens through a part of the budget being allocated according to citizens’ proposals and ideas.

Child-Friendly Shopkeepers
A network of solidarity, in the form of a network of friendly shopkeepers, allows children to be more autonomous, while bringing back social trust and strengthening community ties.

Granny Residence: Closing the Gap between Generations
Young people from the city stay with older people in rural areas, to create lasting connections between generations, preserve cultural heritage, and develop young people’s sense of belonging.

Leuven Helps
Leuven launches a pioneering platform and call-centre for civil participation, to connect volunteers with citizens in need during and after the Corona-crisis, for meal delivery, language courses, and care tasks.

Retired Volunteers Care for Newborns
Well-trained senior citizens volunteer to provide newborn babies with critically needed physical closeness when the parents cannot be there – to reduce infant stress and keep newborns’ immune systems strong.

Oldham Social Prescribing Innovation Partnership
An innovative partnership between public services, healthcare, and the voluntary sector, brings a more holistic, long-term approach to health and well-being – social prescribing – to reduce social isolation, strengthen community ties, and help people access support.

Krakow Community Gardens
Community urban gardening brings residents closer to nature and strengthens social ties in a large city.

Including People with Intellectual Disabilities
The government of the Province of Biscay makes special provisions to recruit civil servants from societal groups with intellectual disabilities.

Warsaw Volunteers
A municipal volunteering portal provides infrastructure and system solutions to increase volunteering among citizens and help institutions looking for volunteers reach members of civil society.

ICCARus
A city’s innovative funding scheme helps low-income captive residents co-design the renovation of their substandard houses, become more empowered, and create a social network of homeowners.

Konexio
Training programmes in different locations in Europe and Africa empower disadvantaged groups through digital literacy, to overcome the digital divide and make earning an income locally possible.
The Winners
of the Innovation in Politics Awards 2021

Social Laundrette in the Municipality of Chania
The first social laundrette in Crete provides socially vulnerable citizens with the facilities to wash their clothes and take care of their personal hygiene, as well as a sense of self-worth and belonging.

Neighbourhood Bern
Volunteers are individually connected with people living within a 15-minute walking distance who need support with everyday tasks, strengthening local solidarity and neighbourly relationships.

+Ricicli +Viaggi – the more you recycle the more you travel
A novel approach to recycling sees plastic bottles exchanged for discounts on public transport tickets in Italy.