Petizioni online a Trento

Trento is the first local administration in Italy to officially use the Change.org platform as an e-petition tool.

Change.org is characterized by a degree of informality which makes it different from the traditional tools used to file petitions. In fact, the paper petition tool is regulated by the institute of democratic participation and by the Handbook for the management of citizen participation and is characterized by a rigorous process consisting in collecting, verifying and validating personal information of the signatories. On the contrary, the Change.org platform is and easy-to-use and straightforward communication channel with the citizens, intercepting their opinions and providing quick answers to the proponents.

By adopting a popular and widely used platform like Change.org, the aim is that of encouraging the mechanism of e-petition. Change.org binds the public administration to respect the terms of service and the community guidelines that establish, for instance, that it is necessary to be 13+ to create an account but also that anybody (also those who are not resident in Trento) can sign the petition.

The Municipality avails itself the right to set a threshold that must be reached for the petition to be analyzed and, then, addressed. In the experimental phase, a petition must receive 200 signatures. Moreover, it has been forbidden to request funds to support one’s e-petition as a binding condition to receive a reply.

The page is managed by the Cabinet of public relations in collaboration with the General Management office, the General Secretariat and the Innovation and Digital Services department.

If the outcome of the experiment is positive, the Handbook for the management of citizen participation will be extended with a specific section that will regulate the e-petition mechanism by setting rules and definining the management process. Meanwhile, the traditional tool can still be used according to the rules that are currently in force.