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Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate
Together for a greener and fairer energy transition and climate policy
Wubbo Ockels School for Energy and Climate Calendar

Digital Participation Symposium

When:Mo 27-11-2023 14:00 - 17:00
Where:House of Connections, Grote Markt 21, Groningen (walk-in from 13.30)

We are happy to invite you to the 2nd Symposium organised by the Public Participation Centre and the Wubbo Ockels School in collaboration with the New Energy Coalition .

A vast majority of citizens across Europe participate digitally in public discourse through free apps offered by big tech firms such as Meta (e.g. Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram), X Corp (previously Twitter), and ByteDance (TikTok). Given the recent debates on whether such apps foster inclusivity and enhance public engagement and on the power of big-tech companies as private gatekeepers of public discourse, the theme of the upcoming symposium is Digital Participation.

In this symposium, we invite you to discuss what defines successful digital participation and which new developments are happening in our region. In addition, through a set of thought-provoking statements based on three short pitches from leading academics, we welcome you to discuss: How are bot factories destabilising elections? How do big tech strategies influence citizens' opinions? What steps is the EU taking? Finally, we will engage in a digital participation experiment on the spot!

Registration

Please register for the symposium at the latest on Wednesday, 22 November 2023, via this registration form .

Programme

13:30-14:00

Walk-in with welcome drink

14:00-15:20

PART 1 - Digital citizen participation: addressing big tech's dominance

Organisers:
David Langley, Faculty Economics and Business, University of Groningen
Stefan Couperus, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen

Guest speakers:
Lisa Gaufman, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen
Jeanne Mifsud Bonnici, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen
Cleo Silvestri, Faculty Economics and Business, University of Groningen

15:20-15:40

Coffee/tea break

15:40-17:00

PART 2 - Digital technology for supporting democracy

Organisers:
Yori Ong, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Groningen

Guest speakers:
Davide Grossi, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen
Oskar Gstrein,Campus Fryslân, University of Groningen
Annet Witvoet, Municipality of Groningen
Sirin Yildiz, Municipality of Groningen
Alexander Smit, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen

17:00-17:45

Drinks

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