Learning Democracy by Practicing It : Baakline, Chouf, Lebanon

The objective of this document is to break traditional systems rooted in the Lebanese governance, at local and national levels, by involving citizens in the decision-making process. It will be as practical as a good theory in the strategy definition of community partnerships. It serves as a source of knowledge concerning Participative Democracy, Governance Change and Social Justice. It calls for the dynamic participation of all the community members and encourages the youth to keenly apply their knowledge and skills to local real-life situations, in response to the needs of their society. It keeps a great distance from both the academic and corporate science through a reflexive practice process aimed at assessing problems and evaluating the results promoted by the project according to the community’s expectations. This document focuses on three main thematic areas: Civil society participation in local dialogue; Education for intercultural citizenship; Art and entertainment to promote change. These thematic areas encourage innovation and participation in order to develop initiatives that will strengthen networking and interaction in the context of the major challenges of Lebanon.