Since I became a civil servant at the municipality, I have been even more interested in the relations and communication between (local) government and the civilians. How to create a civil participation that is beneficial to both parties?
I have been involved in a building project for 2 years and in the Netherlands consultation with the neighboorhoud is important. Sometimes difficult, when people don’t trust the municipality anymore because of negative experiences in the past and won’t communicate normally.
The article below (from Eurotopics) reminded me of what a friend from Georgia told me, when he was in the Netherlands a couple of years ago: that he was surprised how big the civil society was in the Netherlands. In Georgia not many people were involved in benevol activities. A friends from Slovenia explained me earlier this year that because of a long history of communism many people from Central/Eastern European countries need time to have faith in the government again.
Doina Ioanid on Romania’s silent civil society
Observator Cultural – Romania
Writing in the weekly Observator Cultural Doina Ioanid bemoans the lack of a civil society in Romania, particularly as politicians tend to ignore the country’s real problems: “Civil society remains silent. After so many years of accepting state power the Romanians have lost their voice and attitude. Worse still, they have forgotten how to be citizens and defend their fortress. Instead they are content with the right to stare vacantly at the television. To be concrete, being a citizen requires assuming responsibility and taking a stance on what happens around you. Passiveness and a lack of intervention is the worst that can happen to a new state like ours. Yes, there are associations and foundations and NGOs, but they are few and they are weak. Then there’s the intellectuals as formers of opinion. But their presence still doesn’t allow us to distance ourselves from all that is going wrong or violating civil rights, to be able to criticise or sanction it. … Twenty years after the fall of communism the Romanians have forgotten how to take a stance. They have forgotten that rights and obligations go hand in hand. They are content to assist the politicians in their confused actions, powerless and dormant. Perhaps the time has come to wake up.” (16/09/2009)
