REPRESENTATIVES from Derry City and Strabane District Council were among members of IMPROVE, who met in Joensuu in Finland last week to develop more responsive technology driven public services.
IMPROVE is a project funded by the Northern Periphery and Arctic 2014-2010 programme and last week the Transnational Living Lab Network, an initiative to assist regions in the co-production of public services in the IMPROVE regions, was launched.
The participants have signed up to a set of actions that will continuously improve the services provided.
Donegal County Council and ERNACT are also members of the partnership who attended the event in Finland.
Jonny McNee from the Planning section of Derry City and Strabane District Council explained that as part of the initiative a Living Lab Network was a virtual meeting point where participants have the opportunity to share experiences and discuss better work practices with communities with an ultimate aim of developing a more responsive technology-driven public service.
He said that now that planning powers have been transferred to the new Council there is an opportunity to utilise the most modern communication tools to achieve a more flexible and responsive service.
“We outlined to the partners the work being done by the Council to develop the Local Development Plan (LDP) and the importance we are placing on getting the views of the local community to be included in the plan.
“We believe that our partnership with IMPROVE will greatly assist us in doing that and making the Council and its planning services more accessible to the public.
“The new web based service will allow them to participate in the process and engage with the Council directly on planning applications,” he said.
Donegal County Council is set to host the next meeting of the group in the autumn.
Please, find more information and pictures of the event on our Social Media Platforms:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImproveNPA/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImproveNPA
