Community Engagement in Local Decision-Making in Switzerland

Switzerland's federal system is strongly characterised by power-sharing, consensus, and compromise. People’s participation is seen as a means of integrating a diversity of views into decision-making, helping to ensure that public authorities at all levels are accountable and responsive to citizens. Participation of the people improves the quality of decisions taken and mitigates possible resistance, strengthens the legitimacy and credibility of public authorities and helps to manage conflicts and tensions between different groups. 

After a general introduction to the federal system and local government in Switzerland, the lecture will focus specifically on the different instruments of public participation in local decision-making in Switzerland.

Duration45 minutes (including interactive discussion)
Time11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
VenueOnline via a live Zoom video link 
Cost Free
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Delivery style

The lecture will be delivered as an interactive online Zoom video link. Participants will be sent the relevant Zoom details closer to the event.

About the presenter

Vijitha Veerakatty

Vijitha Fernandes-Veerakatty is a Swiss attorney and holds a PhD in International Humanitarian Law from the University of Bern. In addition to her work as a legal advisor for the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, she currently works for Ximpulse, an independent consultancy based in Switzerland. Ximpulse supports stakeholders in political reform processes and offers a wide range of expertise, from constitution-making, power-sharing and good governance to mediation and conflict transformation. 

Vijitha is currently on a research visit to the Institute for Public Policy and Governance as part of the EU-funded project 'Local Government and the Changing Urban-Rural Interplay' (LoGoV). The LoGov project aims to improve the resilience of communities in the face of changing urban and rural realities. To this end, it promotes research that examines and identifies practices around the world that help communities manage urban-rural change and its impacts. Vijitha's research in the LoGov project includes a comparative study of participation in local governance in Switzerland and Australia.

Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.