On 21 March 2025, the UCLG Committee on Social Inclusion, Participatory Democracy and Human Rights (CISDPHR) joined the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy (OIDP), along with the International Alliance of Inhabitants (IAI), the PHOENIX Project/CES - University of Coimbra, and the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) to co-organize the webinar: “Artificial Intelligence and Local Democracy: What Are We Talking About?”
This timely exchange aimed to reflect on how local and regional governments can ensure that the ongoing digital transformation upholds human rights and leaves no one behind, as our Coordinator, Adrià Duarte, stated in his opening remarks. In this sense, participants shared their experience of leveraging AI to transform local governance towards one more inclusive and respectful of human rights, while at the same time, outlining their faced challenges and highlighting the power of collectiveness to address them.
A collective reflection toward OIDP Córdoba 2025
Juan Domingo Viola, Secretary of Citizen Participation of the City of Córdoba, Argentina—host of the upcoming OIDP Córdoba 2025 Conference—opened the session by emphasizing the relevance of this debate as a step toward the agenda of the annual meeting of local democracy: "Connecting, Integrating and Humanizing Cities in the Challenge of Building Community."
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Rights-based approach and strict regulations to address structural inequalities
Flavia Marzano, AI expert and representative of Italy’s Open Government Partnership, presented the European AI Act as a pioneering regulation to ensure safe, transparent, and ethical AI use. This significant regulatory milestone adopts a rights-based approach, ensuring this tool promotes transparency and accountability through the imposition of strict rules.
She invited participants to acknowledge the inherent risks of AI, specifically about the perpetuation of structural inequalities and discriminatory outcomes for historically marginalized groups. For example, AI brings gender, racial, socioeconomic and a broad array of biases, such as favoring male candidates in recruiting processes, targeting racialized communities as criminal, excluding older people and people with disabilities.
"When faced with social transformations, we can either be overwhelmed or choose to govern them," encouraged Flavia Marzano. With this in mind, she shared about the commitment of her organization to achieve an AI deployment that is both inclusive and respectful of human rights. Marzano opened pathways to enhance citizen participation through AI, such as facilitating access to information, analyzing large datasets for evidence-based policy making, and strengthening civic engagement through chatbots and virtual assistants. Her intervention stressed the need for ethical frameworks, digital literacy, and inclusive innovation as essential pillars to bridge the digital divide, particularly in marginalized communities.
Click here to view Flavia Marzano’s presentation slides
Acknowledging the asymmetries and exclusion barriers that AI is bringing
Michelangelo Secchi, researcher at Eudema.net: Digital Sustainable Transitions and collaborator with the OIDP, addressed the governance challenges of a technology as complex and opaque as AI. While current regulations carry positive principles, enforcement remains limited.
He emphasized that the “quality” of AI is our “what” when taking action, highlighting the role of collective agency in shaping participatory tools—from moderation and deliberative sampling to expanded civic networks.
Click here to view Michelangelo Secchi’s presentation slides
Local governments leveraging AI for participation: the case of Sundsvall
Anders Nordh, Development Manager at the Swedish Association of Local and Regional Governments (SALAR), presented their commitment to supporting municipalities in using AI for enhanced participation. A standout case is Sundsvall model for systemic citizen dialogue, shared by Ulrika Sjöberg and Andreaz Strömgren.
Sundsvall’s model for systemic citizen dialogue supported the participation process to develop meeting places in the municipality’s center square. The municipality adopted a whole-of-society approach to carry out dialogues with a diversity of stakeholders, such as politicians, youth and students, grounded on ten principles of citizen dialogue fostering equality, inclusion and transparency. AI supported the compilation of large data outcomes, such as the dialogue results, interviews, surveys and responses, investigations and reports.
Among Sundvall’s learnings, is that AI comes with advantages and disadvantages. The tool is time-saving, performs efficient data collection and provides a quick retrieval of answers. However, it lacks “human” signals, can be overly creative and still requires well-formulated questions. To address this, in partnership with the private sector, the municipality is developing Intric, an innovative generative AI platform to facilitate a broad and effective use of the technology and to release it as open source to encourage resource sharing and collaboration.
Click here to view the presentation slides of the City of Sundsvall
“AI is a tool—just like a post-it once was”
Gerardo de Luzenberger from the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) reminded the audience that AI is just a tool—like a post-it once was. He used this analogy to build the case of the responsibility that our communities have in inquiring the use that they want to give to AI in their daily lives, especially in contexts where freedom is being challenged.
IA’s impact on the right to housing
Cesare Ottolini, from the International Alliance of Inhabitants, warned of the risks of AI-driven speculation in housing and smart cities. Without safeguards, these technologies may displace vulnerable communities and deepen inequalities.
He called for vigilance and action by local governments to protect housing rights and ensure inclusive urban development.
A Call for Democratic Regulation and Global Cooperation
The webinar concluded with a shared understanding: AI is not just a technological issue—it is a political and ethical challenge that must be addressed collectively. Local and regional governments, civil society, academia, and global institutions must come together to:
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Ensure democratic control over digital tools.
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Promote socially just and inclusive technologies.
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Protect human rights in every stage of design, deployment, and use.
This exchange marks a step forward in the CSIPDHR’s commitment to support local governments in navigating the digital transition with a human rights perspective—particularly in view of the upcoming OIDP Córdoba 2025 Conference (21–23 May), where the links between AI, care, democracy, and rights will be further explored.