Civic monitoring for urban development: Insights from the Lazio region

On March 21, 2025, I had the pleasure of representing Monithon at the final event of a civic monitoring pilot supported by the Managing Authority of the ERDF Lazio Regional Programme 2021–2027. Held at WeGil in Rome, the event brought together local administrations, associations, national and international institutions to discuss the outcomes of a participatory initiative focused on monitoring urban development projects in Latina, Frosinone, Rieti, and Viterbo, as part of Policy Objective 5 on sustainable urban development. This initiative is part of a broader effort led by the European Commission, and was selected as one of 11 pilot projects across Europe to test new forms of civic participation at the local level (see this article on Panorama).

The initiative was developed with the support of the OECD and the European Commission and was based on the Monithon method for civic monitoring. This approach, which we’ve been refining since 2013 to help citizens engage with public policies through structured and evidence-based assessments, has been validated and integrated by the OECD for the occasion.

From the very beginning of the event, the tone was set by two important institutional voices. Francesco Amodeo, representing DG REGIO of the European Commission, recalled that President Ursula von der Leyen recently sent a letter to all Commissioners stressing the need to involve citizens more directly in shaping EU policies. He emphasized how DG REGIO is putting this principle into action by supporting regional initiatives like the one in Lazio. Amodeo also mentioned the example of the Polish pilot as a demonstration of how civic engagement can become part of EU cohesion policy governance.

Giulia Cibrario, a policy analyst at the OECD, highlighted that among the 11 pilots supported by the Organisation, Lazio’s was the only one to adopt civic monitoring as its method. She also shared a word of caution: in a context where administrations are often forced to do more with less, citizen participation might be seen as an optional luxury. But it should be the opposite. Participation is both intrinsically valuable, as it strengthens trust in institutions, and instrumentally beneficial, as it contributes to more effective and informed policymaking. At the local level, she said, citizens bring not just enthusiasm but also contextual knowledge and practical experience.

From fieldwork to dialogue: the civic monitoring process

Between October 2024 and March 2025, local associations across the four cities undertook a full civic monitoring cycle, supported by Monithon and the regional institutions.

This process included:

• Training and document analysis to understand project goals, budgets, and implementation status;
• Field data collection, including community surveys, GIS-based spatial analysis, and field visits to project sites;
• Public restitution events, where associations presented findings and engaged in dialogue with municipal officials and project managers (RUPs).

To name a few examples: the Borgo Piave Committee collected 441 survey responses from local residents; Quartieri Connessi engaged 123 participants in their investigation; Schioppo Bene Comune, Urban Center, Legambiente, and others conducted georeferenced analyses and field visits to verify the state of urban interventions.

The final reports were published on reports.monithon.eu, adding to a repository of over 1,400 civic monitoring reports created using Monithon’s method across Italy and other 8 European Countries.

At the final event, the associations shared their experience through live interventions and video messages. Their reflections brought to light both successes and critical challenges — including how the initiative helped open new channels of communication, and where bureaucratic inertia or lack of responsiveness remained a barrier. These testimonies reflected a strong desire to be heard, as well as a clear sense of public responsibility and expertise.

👉🏻 Read the reports from a list (in Italian)

Tangible results, recognized by institutions

The monitoring activities led to several concrete outcomes.

First, access to information improved. In many cases, project managers collaborated with associations by sharing implementation data and explaining procedures during dedicated meetings. This not only demystified the management of EU funds but also gave citizens tools to track progress independently.

Second, the initiative had a direct impact on public decision-making. In at least five documented cases, suggestions from civic monitors were taken into account by municipal authorities and forwarded to the project designers and contractors for integration.

Third, the project fostered a culture of continued civic engagement. Several associations expressed their commitment to continue following the projects they monitored, essentially “adopting” them and preparing to produce follow-up reports in the future.

The case of Latina was particularly striking: despite political turnover and a complex institutional environment, the municipality maintained its participation throughout the process, showing institutional resilience and commitment to dialogue.

The robustness of the Monithon method was acknowledged throughout the day. Its structure, transparency, and replicability allowed associations to produce insights that were specific, data-driven (when data was available), and framed in constructive terms — qualities that made them more likely to be taken seriously by institutions.

What we learned: reflections from national and local stakeholders

The third panel of the event — focused on lessons learned and future replicability — brought together insights from a wide range of institutional actors: Massimo Allulli (ANCI), Alba Garavet (Metropolitan City of Turin), Viviana Russo (Technical Secretariat of PRigA, Department for Cohesion Policy), and Fulvio Pellegrini (Capacity for Cohesion Programme).

Allulli and Russo identified several structural challenges that continue to limit citizen participation:

• The uncertainty around the timing and availability of resources for local governments;
• The fear that engaging with citizens might slow down the delivery of public policies and services;
• The difficulty in managing conflict or balancing competing interests;
• And the lack of administrative capacity to process and integrate feedback from below.

However, these obstacles are not insurmountable. As Alba Garavet put it: “We can do it.” She described a long-term collaboration between the Metropolitan City of Turin, the University of Turin, and Monithon, where students were trained in civic monitoring and engaged directly with public officials. This model, active since 2016, has fostered mutual learning and growing trust between institutions and citizens — proving that with adequate support, public participation can become a real asset to local governance.

The road ahead: from pilot to partnership

In his concluding remarks, Massimiliano Pacifico, representing the Lazio Managing Authority, presented a set of proposals to transform this initial civic monitoring experience into a structured and long-term partnership.

The proposals include:

• A permanently open municipal call to involve stakeholders (partners of Territorial Strategies) over time;
• A dedicated regional web platform called MONISTER, which aggregates project data, links to OpenCoesione and Monithon, and supports transparency and public access to implementation data. The platform will include short training videos to support citizens in learning about how to monitor projects during all phases and after conclusion;
• An annual municipal meeting with local partners, modeled on the successful format of this event;
• And additional initiatives — such as collaboration pacts, expanded communication efforts, new forms of territorial outreach, and participation in European city networks — based on the input of municipalities and associations.

My takeaway: toward a new public culture

From my perspective at Monithon, this initiative confirmed what we’ve believed for over a decade: citizens are not just observers of public policy — they can be co-assessors, co-creators, and co-responsible for its success. The Lazio pilot showed that with the right conditions — transparency, openness, and method — civic monitoring can build new relationships of trust, generate specific and actionable proposals, and help administrations become more responsive.

The determination of the participating citizens, their willingness to learn, and their readiness to continue beyond the project timeline areall signs that something meaningful was set in motion. Our method gave them a framework, but local organizations gave it life.

As we move forward, Monithon remains committed to supporting public administrations, local communities, and institutions that want to adopt civic monitoring as part of their governance strategy — not as an experiment, but as standard practice.