Manifesto For Human, Creative And Smart Cities Presented In Brazil

OASC Brazil publishes a Manifesto to raise awareness among city leaders and stimulate the implementation of social, economic and digital policies. The Manifesto has been shared with Brazilian authorities.

Brasília – As a result of the 1st International Forum of Human, Creative and Smart Cities, which took place in Brasília, Brazil, on 28 June, the first Brazilian Manifesto to support citizen-centric, creative and smart cities has been presented.

Cláudio Nascimento, Vice-President of the Brazilian Network of Human Smart Cities and Coordinator of OASC Brazil, Margarida Campolargo, Porto Digital and Coordinator of OASC Portugal, as well as Francesco Farruggia, President of the Campus Party Institute, have jointly developed the manifesto and presented it during the forum.

The manifesto aims at stimulating the implementation of social, economic, and digital policies that place citizens at the heart of all efforts. Focusing on the development of educational and capacitation models, the manifesto argues for including all Brazilian citizens in digital innovation. Following this approach it stresses the need to empower governance entities by promoting cooperation and co-creation dynamics and the importance to provide the country with appropriate technological infrastructure. Meanwhile, the manifesto argues for policies that facilitate and reduce bureaucracy to stimulate entrepreneurship.

Cláudio Nascimento said: “By putting citizens and creativity at the heart of a social, economic and digital strategy, the manifesto serves as a guideline for authorities that will be fundamental for Brazil to enter a new level of development.”

The main actions of the manifesto are:

1. Stimulate active and inclusive participation of all the actors belonging to the innovation ecosystem of the city; both the parliament and local government can innovate in their relationship with people to improve, not only, the quality of life in cities, but also the quality of Brazilian democracy, using innovative methodologies and technological tools
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2. Instil a spirit of bottom-up approach, recognising the existence of diverse territories within a city, namely vulnerable territories, bringing new opportunities and raw materials necessary for the development of a creative and entrepreneurial culture, fostering the motivation of children and young people as well as the clear return of social and economic development.
3. Create inclusive environments that stimulate accessibility for people with disabilities and gender and ethnic equity.
4. Boost and disseminate an entrepreneurial culture that benefits entrepreneurs as well as the municipality.
5. Develop and support the initiatives of mentoring and acceleration of start-ups within cities and municipalities, engaging especially private investment.
6. Cut red tape and simplify access to markets for smart city-based companies, especially start-ups. Human Smart Cities are not bureaucratic: new governance models and new technologies are efficient instruments of bureaucracy.
7. In smart cities, innovative teaching methods, such as “Distance Education” linked to public employment and income policies, can be an effective solution to face unemployment in countries such as Brazil.
8. Support Brazilian municipalities to establish their integrated, open and interoperable platforms providing the needed infrastructure for the development of entrepreneurship and cities.
9. Broaden connectivity and networking in all Brazilian regions.
10. Encourage and implement initiatives for digital training and innovation culture for citizens, entrepreneurs and public managers.
11. Public policies can be integrated, have their costs reduced and their implementation democratized with the support of new technologies.
12. The relationship between the public and private sectors must be encouraged and must accompany the evolution of technological solutions that make life easier for people; Regulatory, tax related and labour issues must contribute to the development of Human Smart Cities and not prevent their emergence.

The 1st International Forum of Human, Creative and Smart Cities, organised by the Brazilian Network of Human Smart Cities, took place during the second edition of the Campus Party Brasília. The event is one of the largest so-called Campus Parties in the world. This year, the Campus Party Brasília attracted more than 90.000 visitors in five days.

Aiming at discussing new paradigms and innovative approaches for the future of cities in Brazil, The 1st International Forum of Human, Creative and Smart Cities gathered city leaders, research and academia, state government representatives as well as entrepreneurs. The event was co-organised by Cláudio Nascimento, Vice President of the Brazilian Network of Human Smart Cities and Coordinator of OASC Brazil, Margarida Campolargo, Porto Digital and Coordinator of OASC Portugal, and Francesco Farruggia, President of the Campus Party Institute.