4. Digital Democracy: Bridging Or Widening Divides?

Episode Four takes us to Athens, Greece. In conversation with Amalia Zepou, former Vice Mayor of the City of Athens, we explore how one citizen’s frustration with the state of her city grew into her running for office and adopting a new model for civic engagement. All this in a context where volunteering often carries negative connotations and trust between citizens and public servants is low. Through the synAthina platform, we see how creating new digital tools can help bridge divides, recognize citizens and public servants as partners, and build more inclusive forms of participation.---We’re living through a global democratic crisis, and elections around the world are sending a clear message: the system isn’t working. It Takes a City is a podcast about participation and democracy, hosted by Stefania Kapronczay, a human rights advocate working on resilient democracies from Budapest, Hungary, and Flavio Proietti Pantosti, a social innovator and entrepreneur focused on public administration from Rome, Italy. Through conversations with practitioners, we explore lesser-known stories of participation, often from communities with limited resources. Each episode unpacks real tactics, strategic dilemmas, and honest failures, with the goal of offering practical insights.Visit https://takesacity.com/ or get in touch at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠.