Participation and interactiveness leads to higher level of satisfaction and trust. It increases the ownership among citizens. In local governments, it will be crucial to guarantee strong cities able to manage rising challenges. A participative city policy based on strategic management capacities will be necessary.

This concerns also the Flemish Community in her relation to citizens and civil society, where the ambition of open government and the search for innovations in interactiveness face a number of striking paradoxes and challenges.
There is also the interesting question whether participation means the same thing at the Flemish and the local level? Are the models of participation equal or do they differ fundamentally?