evoice: rationale

Interest in politics in the North Sea Region has dwindled to such an extent over recent decades that the legitimacy of our elected leaders is being brought into question. Figures show that:

• fewer people are using their right to vote;
• membership of political parties has plummeted, and
• the choice of political representatives is narrowing as fewer people put themselves forward for election.

If these trends continue, the proper functioning of the democratic system could be endangered.

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The evoice project is financed through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the framework of the Interreg IIIB North Sea Programme and contributions from the project partners.


for more information, visit:
www.evoice-eu.net

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evoice and the Council of Europe

In the summer of 2005, the Municipality of Dantumadeel (NL), lead partner of the evoice project, started the successful pilot 'mobile phones for youngsters'. Seventy young people in the village of Zwaagwesteinde agreed to advise their local authorities on the development of a (spatial) vision on the future of their village. They could do this by submitting their (visual) contributions consisting of photos or a short footage made with their mobile phones, and accompanying texts, to the supporting community website, www.heelhetdorpzwaagwesteinde.nl.

The pilot project attracted a lot of regional and national media attention in The Netherlands.

Because of the success of the pilot 'mobile phones for youngsters', the Dutch Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties (Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations) invited the Municipality of Dantumadeel, as one of five Dutch municipalities, to take part in the international roadtest of the CLEAR model in October 2005. This CLEAR model has been started by the Council of Europe to stimulate political participation by citizens.