My e-Participation Story | Page 19

The Association for Urban Development in Romania is a very active advocate which aims to improve the lives of people living in urban areas. Just to mention some projects recently developed by the Association: • Healthy yoghurt – campaigning for the distribution of yoghurt in glass containers and not plastic, • Clean streets for people – provision of special bags for collecting dog waists on streets and parks, • Quick bus – campaign for determining local authorities in big cities to establish special lanes for buses to improve public transport in towns, • Lost and Found – an online space where people post information about lost and found objects/animals. In every single campaign and project, the Association used online e-participation tools to reach as many people as possible and align voices into one strong message – with the objective to influence local or national policy. Some of the campaigns undertaken by the Association have started in a small way, but grew to national scale due to people who use and are interconnected through online platforms like Facebook or Twitter. In Romania, one of the most popular and well used online tools is www.petitieonline.net where people can sign up and advocate for causes which are important for their community and peers. The Association for Urban Development has regularly used this platform in its campaigns. It is very clear that online e-participation platforms are making a significant difference in attracting people with common interests and giving them a voice which ultimately influences or even impacts local, regional, national or even European policy. � 19