<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

The active involvement of citizens in decision-making processes via geoparticipatory spatial tools is becoming a popular research field among geographers, GIScientists, environmental psychologists, political scientists and many others. This paper presents the idea of the Index of geoparticipation – an indicator-based index divided into three dimensions (communication, participation, transparency) that helps to evaluate the state of geoparticipation among Czech municipalities. It describes the current state of geoparticipation at the municipality level in Czechia. It aims to fill the research gap in finding which components of geoparticipation at the municipality level are being used, and how their use is affected by the size of municipalities and their membership of Local Agenda 21 networks. The paper builds upon an extensive dataset collected by the authors from all Czech municipalities (n=6 258) and presents various “shades” of geoparticipation in Czechia.
<bold>Highlights for public administration, management and planning:</bold>
<list list-type="bullet">
<list-item>• The highest average values of the Index of geoparticipation were obtained from the regions’ capital cities, followed by statutory cities, municipalities with extended powers, municipalities which are members of the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic (HCCZ) network and cities.</list-item>
<list-item>• HCCZ member municipalities use geoparticipatory tools significantly more than the rest of the Czech municipalities</list-item>
<list-item>• The communication dimension is the most widely implemented pillar of the Index of geoparticipation</list-item>
<list-item>• There is no significant relationship between social exclusion and geoparticipation at the nationwide level</list-item>
</list>
</abstract>

The active involvement of citizens in decision-making processes via geoparticipatory spatial tools is becoming a popular research field among geographers, GIScientists, environmental psychologists, political scientists and many others. This paper presents the idea of the Index of geoparticipation – an indicator-based index divided into three dimensions (communication, participation, transparency) that helps to evaluate the state of geoparticipation among Czech municipalities. It describes the current state of geoparticipation at the municipality level in Czechia. It aims to fill the research gap in finding which components of geoparticipation at the municipality level are being used, and how their use is affected by the size of municipalities and their membership of Local Agenda 21 networks. The paper builds upon an extensive dataset collected by the authors from all Czech municipalities (n=6 258) and presents various “shades” of geoparticipation in Czechia.
Highlights for public administration, management and planning:

• The highest average values of the Index of geoparticipation were obtained from the regions’ capital cities, followed by statutory cities, municipalities with extended powers, municipalities which are members of the Healthy Cities of the Czech Republic (HCCZ) network and cities.
• HCCZ member municipalities use geoparticipatory tools significantly more than the rest of the Czech municipalities
• The communication dimension is the most widely implemented pillar of the Index of geoparticipation
• There is no significant relationship between social exclusion and geoparticipation at the nationwide level

What is the current state of geoparticipation in Czech municipalities?

Department of Development and Environmental Studies, Faculty of Science

Department of Geoinformatics, Faculty of Science

Department of Politics and European Studies, Faculty of Arts

GeoScape

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"What is the current state of geoparticipation in Czech municipalities?"}

The active involvement of citizens in decision-making processes via geoparticipatory spatial tools is becoming a popular research field among geographers,...

What is the current state of geoparticipation in Czech municipalities?

Publié en ligne: 03 juil. 2021

Pages: 90 - 103

Reçu: 14 mars 2021

Accepté: 10 juin 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/geosc-2021-0008

Mots clés
Geoparticipation, Local governance, Democratic innovations

© 2021 Jiří Pánek et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

What is the current state of geoparticipation in Czech municipalities?

Publié en ligne: 03 juil. 2021

Pages: 90 - 103

Reçu: 14 mars 2021

Accepté: 10 juin 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/geosc-2021-0008

Mots clésGeoparticipation, Local governance, Democratic innovations

© 2021 Jiří Pánek et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Mots clés
Geoparticipation, Local governance, Democratic innovations