Beyond hashtags and likes – How to stimulate e-participation in foreign policy

Hosted by Deutsche Welle and Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (ifa)
Tuesday, June 23 / Room A/B

Web 2.0 has provided the parameters for collaborative communications around the world. Foreign policy stakeholders have taken up its tools – by creating Twitter and Facebook accounts, for instance – to enter into an online dialog with the public at large. Is that enough to connect with citizens and get them involved? What does e-participation actually mean beyond the slacktivism of clicking a “like” button or adding a hashtag to buzzwords? How does digital diplomacy work? What happens to the results of such interaction and how do the responses reach the source institution?

The panelists will focus on particular aspects of the topic as follows:

• Interactive digital content from stakeholders of foreign cultural and educational policy
• Diplomacy 2.0
• E-participation in Europe
• Conditions for establishing genuine e-participation
• Big data

The workshop will present interactive digital content from institutions active in the fields of foreign cultural and educational policy; spotlight best-practice examples of diplomacy 2.0; and examine the prospects and risks posed by big data.