W<strong>in</strong>nersAthens664,046Population (2012)-1.58%Population growth per annum(2002-2012)€18,770GDP per capita (2013)-0.92%Annual GDP growth (2003-2013)W<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g proposalGreekOfficial languageDirectlyelected mayor(five-year term)Metropolitan governancesynAth<strong>in</strong>a: chang<strong>in</strong>g governmentfrom the bottom up by encourag<strong>in</strong>ga volunteer culturesynAth<strong>in</strong>a is an <strong>in</strong>itiative aimed at the entirecity. Austerity measures hit Greece harderthan any other European nation, significantlyreduc<strong>in</strong>g the operational capacity of Athens.SynAth<strong>in</strong>a is supported by a central municipalplatform and a new department that will promotesocial <strong>in</strong>novation. The <strong>in</strong>itiative supports andencourages community and bus<strong>in</strong>ess-sponsoredprojects, while aim<strong>in</strong>g to reduce the distancebetween citizens and government throughcitizen participation <strong>in</strong> problem-solv<strong>in</strong>g. Opendata is expected to facilitate transparency andprovide tangible measurements of the project’ssuccess, <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g residents’ levels of trust. As isthe case with many applicant cities, discussionsare already be<strong>in</strong>g developed to export thetechnology to other European cities, highlight<strong>in</strong>ga desire to not only participate <strong>in</strong> city <strong>in</strong>novation,but profit from it too.Six years of GDP contraction has seen Greece’seconomy shr<strong>in</strong>k by almost a quarter, but a recordtourist season <strong>in</strong> 2014 helped push the countryback <strong>in</strong>to the black. Dur<strong>in</strong>g this time, Greecehas undertaken the biggest government debtrestructur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> history, with bailouts far largerthan annual GDP. With a high debt-to-GDP ratioand unemployment rate, especially amongst theyouth who represent significant lost potential,Greece is unable to fund many projects at anational or local level. Health care budgets, forexample, have been reduced by 40% as part ofausterity measures. In this environment, regularprotests have shown a grow<strong>in</strong>g mistrust betweencitizens and government; Greeks are the most likely<strong>in</strong> Europe to believe their government is corrupt.VisionIn this environment, synAth<strong>in</strong>a is an attempt torebuild Europe’s oldest capital city from the bottomup by employ<strong>in</strong>g citizen engagement as a lever forpromot<strong>in</strong>g government transparency and reform.The project is supported by a website, whichallows citizens to list (on a map) projects aimedat improv<strong>in</strong>g the quality of city life <strong>in</strong> categoriesrang<strong>in</strong>g from urban improvements to education,culture and children. A matchmak<strong>in</strong>g service l<strong>in</strong>ksvolunteers and funders, which can be made up ofcitizens, NGOs or private bus<strong>in</strong>esses. However,this masks the big steps Athens has had to takepolitically. Many of the <strong>in</strong>formal activities, likegarden<strong>in</strong>g abandoned plots or street exchangebazaars, are technically illegal, and Athens is us<strong>in</strong>gthe suggestions as feedback to rewrite a “complexsystem of adm<strong>in</strong>istrative obstacles that repeatedly<strong>in</strong>hibits citizens”. By provid<strong>in</strong>g official recognitionto community efforts, no matter how small, themunicipality wants to build a relationship of trustbetween local government and citizens whilefoster<strong>in</strong>g volunteerism.ImpactAthens hopes the project will give visibility andcoord<strong>in</strong>ation to volunteer efforts as the capitalpositions itself to benefit from the potential ofco-created solutions. Amalia Zepou, an activistturned-civil-servant,has been champion<strong>in</strong>g theproject for more than a year. Her <strong>in</strong>clusion <strong>in</strong>the city’s government already signals a desire toexperiment with new forms of governance and anopenness to partner with citizens.ImplementationAthens has already worked to create a networkof activists operat<strong>in</strong>g with<strong>in</strong> the city, and themunicipality plans to <strong>in</strong>crease the susta<strong>in</strong>abilityof the project by hir<strong>in</strong>g external experts to tra<strong>in</strong>city staff and by <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g city officials morebroadly. A pilot phase has shown some positiveresults and, <strong>in</strong> the future, open data will be usedto <strong>in</strong>crease transparency by allow<strong>in</strong>g citizensto measure the success of specific projects. Thecreation of a department for civil society furtherhighlights the municipality’s desire to have citizensdrive government <strong>in</strong>novation. In do<strong>in</strong>g so, localgovernment wants to connect with citizens, butZepou believes that Athens also benefited from“be<strong>in</strong>g part of, and see<strong>in</strong>g itself as equal to, a groupof other cities from other European countries.”TransferabilitysynAth<strong>in</strong>a contributes to resolv<strong>in</strong>g the challenge of<strong>in</strong>adequate operational capacity at the municipallevel, particularly when it comes to respond<strong>in</strong>g tothe smaller scale day-to-day needs of its citizens<strong>in</strong> an open and transparent way. The perceiveddistance between citizens and government is aproblem affect<strong>in</strong>g many European cities, as isthe need to f<strong>in</strong>d alternative methods to fund localprojects and services. However, the feedbackloop of us<strong>in</strong>g citizen proposals to impact by-laws,regulation and policy is relatively rare and suggestsopportunities to <strong>in</strong>volve citizens <strong>in</strong> local governance<strong>in</strong> ways that go beyond <strong>in</strong>itiatives to expand vot<strong>in</strong>g.36
Volunteer<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> numbersOnly 13% of Greek citizens trust public <strong>in</strong>stitutionswhile 98% consider corruption a major problemand take government <strong>in</strong>efficiency as a given.Transparency International ranks Greece lowest<strong>in</strong> the EU on its Corruption Barometer; onlyUkra<strong>in</strong>e is ranked lower <strong>in</strong> Europe.Greece (along with Bulgaria, Italy and Lithuania)has the EU’s lowest volunteer<strong>in</strong>g rate.Volunteer<strong>in</strong>g contributes less than 0.1% to GDP <strong>in</strong>Greece.The Athens 2004 Olympics attracted 45,000volunteers.Interview with Amalia Zepou, AthensDeputy Mayor for Civil SocietyQ Why did you enter the <strong>Mayors</strong> Challenge?A The competition co<strong>in</strong>cided with a strategyto use <strong>Cities</strong> of Service to encouragevolunteerism because it is easier for Atheniansto accept someth<strong>in</strong>g that has already beendone abroad and is recognised.Q Were there any other ideas?A We asked members of our team for ideas, themost <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g of which were <strong>in</strong>corporated<strong>in</strong>to synAth<strong>in</strong>a.Q Most beneficial aspect of the challenge?A It gave us the tools to develop a clearlythought-out and robust application, andalso to see Athens as equal to so many otherEuropean cities and part of provid<strong>in</strong>g asolution.Q If you hadn’t won?A The idea would cont<strong>in</strong>ue to focus on smallscale sponsorships; the prize money allows for<strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g the impact by expand<strong>in</strong>g the team.The application gave us the tools...we knew that even if we didn’t w<strong>in</strong>, thiswould work.Q Impact on your city after five years?A Contribut<strong>in</strong>g and shar<strong>in</strong>g makes citizens feelcloser to other Europeans... Not closer to thegovernment maybe, but closer to the othercitizens from other countries. That is veryimportant to re<strong>in</strong>force their European identity.W<strong>in</strong>ners37
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