The fourth in a new series of Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments has been published, created by the International Parliament Engagement Network in partnership with INTER PARES.
Parliaments are both spaces and places. As spaces, they are collections of rooms, halls, offices and grounds that are used for particular purposes. As places, they mean something to the people they represent – but they don’t mean the same thing, or as much, to everyone, and increasingly people hold negative feelings towards parliaments.
This Guide on Parliament as a Space and Place explores the idea of parliaments as spaces and places and provides guidance for staff and Members of Parliament on using spaces to develop citizens’ understanding and positive associations towards their parliament as a place.We use a wide range of examples from parliaments across the world to demonstrate how this can be done.
Read the Guide on Parliament as a Space and Place.
About the series
Launched to coincide with International Day of Democracy, the Guide on Parliament as a Space and Place is the fourth in a new eight part series focusing on a range of public engagement topics to help build parliaments’ capacity to engage members of the public in their work.
The series is being created through a project collaboration between the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN) and INTER PARES. The Guides are produced with the financial support of the European Union as part of the INTER PARES I Parliaments in Partnership project, implemented by International IDEA.
The Guides have been developed by Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN) and Juliet Ollard, (Senior Research and Engagement Officer, IPEN) in partnership with INTER PARES.
The project team have drawn from extensive academic research and parliamentary practice from across the world – including many interviews with parliamentary officials and academics, and the expert advice of our International Advisory Group and the IPEN Executive Team.
The remaining four Guides will be published over the coming months.
Image created by Research Retold