Framing new styles of civic engagement. Case studies of hybrid Participatory Budgeting in Italy

Hybrid participatory processes are more common nowadays. Traditional face-to-face participation events are in some way combined with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This is improving the opportunities for citizens to engage in politics and is also changing the way to do it. However, this also raises new questions about the quality and the representativeness of participation as well as of the outcomes: to what extent are the online tools positive to foster inclusive and deliberative decision-making? How to combine the plurality – online and offline, meetings and direct voting – channels of participation? The paper presents the results of several cases of hybrid PB in Italy, mainly in terms of the use of participatory channels by different categories of citizens. It also presents more in depth the PB initiative in the city of Monza (Italy), by describing the design solutions adopted to combine multiple actors – such as citizens, stakeholders, advisory district councils, Municipality, etc. – and to guarantee an efficient participatory process and governance.