Civic · Free guide

How Local Participation Works

What would you like to do?

Ideas, recommendations, consultations and decisions — who can do what, and how to follow what happens next.

Meet people Do something Join an event Travel together Find a Cercle Create a project

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Find what fits you

What are you interested in?Where are you?When are you available?Or say it in a sentence

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For residents, newcomers and first-time participants · Lyon, Rennes

1. Five things that are not the same

A community idea, a citizen recommendation, a consultation contribution, an institutional proposal and an authorised decision are different things. Every record on LaSocialOffline says which one it is, and who has the authority to turn it into the next.

Tip: Look for the "What this is" box at the top of every initiative.

Residents on a guided heritage-day visit of the Meudon quarries — Photo: Wikimedia Commons

2. Understand before you take part

Read the briefing first: the problem, the background, the key facts with their sources, the different perspectives and what is still unresolved. Questions are a contribution in their own right.

Tip: Official sources and community observations carry different labels — both are useful.

A stallholder with goods spread out at the Braderie de Lille — Photo: Wikimedia Commons

3. Deliberate, do not just vote

Arguments, concerns, evidence, alternatives and common ground sit in separate columns. Statements can be weighed as agree, disagree or unsure, and the consensus map shows its arithmetic.

Tip: Consensus is only shown once enough people have weighed a statement.

Residents and local councillors at the inauguration of a redesigned street in Avon — Photo: Wikimedia Commons

4. Meetings, panels and budgets

Neighbourhood assemblies record decisions, recommendations and open questions. Citizen panels deliberate and recommend. Participatory budgets let residents choose projects within a published allocation — when a real public body runs one.

Tip: Examples on the platform marked "Illustrative" show how a process works; they are not real public processes.

5. Follow what happened

After a response comes implementation: updates, spending, issues and a documented outcome. Everyone who took part is notified — and the next initiative can start from what was learnt.