Ricostruire la partecipazione civica nella nuova normalità: Alcuni indirizzi per una possibile rifondazione

Abstract

During the COVID-19 emergency, most of the participatory processes underway in various countries were paused. In the meantime, various networks that bring together facilitators, consultants, public officials and politicians engaged in participatory processes have begun to question the "after": how people will change and how much the participatory processes of the "new normal" will have to change. The paper - starting from the testimonies collected by the author in various international networks - tries to propose a summary of some common points emerged from the debates held in last months and from some experiences which have started rethinking the participatory devices for involving their inhabitants in public policies. The author identifies some of the main paradigmatic changes that can give a new direction to rethink participatory processes in the period of the gradual reopening of the activities blocked by the COVID-19 pandemic, towards overcoming assistentialistic, paternalistic and "top-down" approaches, such as those that characterized the most difficult phases of the emergency.