Members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN) have taken the lead on the creation of a new working group to support Spanish speaking parliamentary staff and academics.
Back in March, IPEN organised an online seminar with staff from legislatures in Spain to analyse the situation of parliamentary public engagement in the country.
The seminar brought together staff from various legislatures such as the Parliament of Catalonia, the Basque Parliament, the Parliament of Aragon, the Parliament of Galicia and the Spanish Senate. Representatives of other Spanish parliaments and the coordinators of the Parliamentary Advisory Office in the Congress of Deputies also took part in the meeting.
The seminar was organised by IPEN member Eva Campos-Domínguez (Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Valladolid, Spain) with input from IPEN Chair Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds).
Discussions in the meeting revolved around issues such as where Spanish parliaments stand in terms of parliamentary public engagement, and challenges and difficulties encountered by workers.
At the end of the event, the participants agreed to create a Spanish speaking working group, with the support of the parliaments represented in the seminar, to further promote the development of parliamentary public engagement. All the participants agreed on the need to share experiences on the activities they are carrying out in Spain and to lay the foundations for the elaboration of a guide of good practices.
Plans are now under way for the group to meet again to organise its work and define a strategy for its operation.
Eva Campos-Domínguez said:
“This new group aims to share good practices in Spanish parliaments, share experiences and create a space for training and learning to continue advancing in parliamentary public engagement. We welcome other Spanish speaking parliamentary staff and academics to join us for future meetings.”
Cristina Leston-Bandeira said:
“It is great to see IPEN inspiring staff in these parliaments to learn more about parliamentary public engagement and enhance practice further, and we look forward to learning from their own practices.”
For more information about this new work group, please email Eva Campos-Domínguez at eva.campos@uva.es.
Article published: 21 July 2023