Dalyvaujamosios valdysenos įgyvendinimo perspektyvos Neringos savivaldybėje ; The perspectives of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality

Abstract

The aim of the work is to assess the perspectives of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality. Participatory governance implementation is an integral part of democratic governance, and participation itself is identified as one of the core democratic values, which effectiveness depends on the implementation mechanism. The main factors that will help ensure the smooth running of this mechanism are the right to participate, the opportunities and the participants. In order to ensure the participation of civil society based on the principles of transparency and accountability, the regulation of this process as defined in the legal acts must be followed. The analysis of legal acts has shown that national and international documents emphasize the rights and obligations of citizens and civil servants to participate in public governance, and they are more detailed in the domestic laws of the Republic of Lithuania. After the research, it was found that participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality is more theoretical than practical. The situation is aggravated by the discrepancy between the attitude of residents and civil servants towards the existing problems. Residents lack information, appropriate conditions for involvement and cooperation from government representatives, and the municipal employees do not see their mistakes in believing that all measures are taken to encourage participation. Such a contradiction leads to a negative development of participatory governance, therefore, it would be appropriate to take the following steps: first, dissemination of detailed and clear information on the planned actions through various information dissemination channels (on social networks, the municipality website, in the press, also not to eliminate the possibility of leaving leaflets in mailboxes when discussing issues of particular relevance to the residents), with a greater focus on youth and the elderly. Secondly, and probably most importantly, SWOT analysis of participatory governance implementation in Neringa municipality should be performed and a plan for ensuring this process should be prepared, indicating the goals, objectives, and defining the implementation period in stages.