Search opens for pioneering projects that improve the lives of people and communities for entry to fifth Europe-wide Political Awards

2021-05-10IrishAnnouncementOfAwards – pdf

A jury of 1,000 European citizens will single out the year’s most innovative projects. Submissions are open now.

From today, the search is on for the most innovative projects in Ireland for entry to the prestigious Innovation in Politics European Awards which are heading into their fifth instalment.

Politicians and public authorities from Ireland and all over Europe are being invited to submit their most outstanding initiatives. A jury of 1,000 citizens will then select the winning projects in nine categories. The winners will receive one of the coveted trophies at a special awards ceremony in December.

Held since 2017, 24 Irish projects and politicians have been finalists in these European Awards that put creative politicians and decision-making centre stage, with the aim of motivating people to emulate them.

European citizens can now nominate projects in nine different categories, or alternatively politicians can submit their own projects. The categories are: Community, Democracy, Digitalisation, Ecology, Economy, Education, Human Rights, Quality of Life and Covid-19 strategies. All submissions will be assessed by a Europe-wide citizens’ jury. In each category, the 10 projects with the highest jury ratings will be the finalists. The nine winners will be announced at a ceremony in December.

Flagship political projects in Europe

More than 1,600 projects have been entered for The Innovation in Politics Awards since 2017. Over 4,000 European citizens have acted as jurors, selecting a total of 33 winners from 330 finalists. Germany currently leads the way with six winning projects, followed by France (five), the UK (four) and Poland (three).

These 33 examples of tried-and-tested best practice are now accessible to others for analysis and rescaling via the Institute’s virtual showroom https://innovationinpolitics.eu/showroom/.

The aim is to encourage the exchange of ideas across Europe, with a view to promoting the cross-border development of innovative policies. The steadily growing platform also includes a number of 2  ground-breaking projects that were not submitted for the Awards. In total, it contains 370 successful political initiatives from 37 countries.

Key information about the Awards

Click here for full details: https://innovationinpolitics.eu/awards

Closing date for submissions: 1st July 2021

Further information, guidance or assistance to enter the Awards contact:

Joan O’Flynn, Ireland Representative, Innovation in Politics Awards

jf@innovationinpolitics.eu or phone 353-87-9051514

About The Innovation in Politics Institute

The Innovation in Politics Institute is an international, non-governmental organisation that identifies, develops and implements innovation in politics in order to strengthen democracy in Europe and beyond. With a Europe-wide network of offices and partner organisations in 21 European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom), and together with political leaders at all levels, the institute is building tomorrow’s politics today. The School of Law and Government, Dublin City University is the Irish partner of the Innovation in Politics Institute.

Some Irish projects who reached European finals:

2020

• The Vision Symphony (Clare County Council)
• Our Balbriggan Rejuvenation Project (Fingal County Council)
• Age Friendly Housing Technical Specialists in Irish Local Auths (Meath County Council)
• Natural Play Space Programme (South Dublin Council)

2019

• Longford Nua Regeneration and Community Engagement (Longford County Council)
• Athboy Walkability and Inclusive Town Development (Meath County Council)
• Moyross Training at the Bays (Limerick City Council)
• Voter Participation (Monaghan County Council)