Ίδρυμα της Βουλής

DIGITAL LITERACY: WHY IT MATTERS FOR REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

parliamentadmin — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 06:35:39 +0000

DIGITAL LITERACY: WHY IT MATTERS FOR REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY parliamentadmin Thu, 29/06/2023 - 09:35

On the 16th and 17th of June the Conference on Digital Literacy: Why it matters for representative democracy took place at the Portuguese Parliament.

In June 2022, the inaugural Conference dedicated to the topic Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy took place in Athens and Napflion, and it was held on the initiative of the Hellenic Parliament Foundation, co-organized, among others, by the Assembleia da República, and to which MP Alexandre Quintanilha, Chair of the Committee on Education and Science attended.

The second edition of this Conference took then place in the Assembleia da República, and brought together participants from the Parliaments of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, the Hellenic Republic, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Spain, the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, as well as representatives from other European institutions, industry and academia.

The first day of the conference was dedicated to the debate on the results achieved in Athens and the importance of digital literacy for representative democracy, as well as the presentation by the UK Parliament on the implementation of digital technologies in parliamentary activities and its importance in the future. The Parliament's digital strategy for 2022-2025 was presented, as well as its four priorities (flexibility, security, resilience; keeping up with the advances in digital technologies; digital sustainability; and better use of information and data), along with the Digital and Data Operating Model.

The President of the Portuguese Parliament, Augusto Santos Silva, was present during the opening of the Conference. The President delivered a welcome speech on the subject and answered to the questions from the participants.

The President highlighted in his speech the importance of the role of digital tools in the access to more information, namely about parliamentary activity, making parliaments more accountable and citizens more participative. However, he mentioned that this participation lacks an active signal from Parliaments in the sense of valuing the citizens and their proposals and ideas. He has emphasized the evolution of the Portuguese Parliament in the use of digital tools.

On the second day, the discussions were focused on the role of parliaments in promoting digital, democratic and participatory literacy, including young people, best practices regarding increasing civic participation through technology, getting closer to institutions, the impact of social networks and how to reach citizens, as well as the challenges for democracy from a cybersecurity perspective and regarding the use of artificial intelligence. The debate sessions included speakers from Portuguese Parliament and other national parliaments, academics, journalists, and representatives of the digital industry (Microsoft, Defined.ai).

The last session was a round table discussion on the topics debated during the conference, moderated by MP Alexandre Quintanilha, and with the presence of the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Administrative Modernization, Members of the European Parliament and national parliaments, a representative of the European Commission and researchers.

The main ideas discussed were related to the work developed by the European Parliament in the digital area, the focus on fighting its risks and its importance for democracy, the role of young people in digital literacy and examples of good practices such as the Youth Parliament program and the lifelong acquisition of skills using digital media.

On the challenges and opportunities of digital literacy, many ideas were drawn by the speakers: digital communication strategies, the influence of social networks and the possibility of bringing citizens closer to the political and parliamentary space, the problem of disinformation and strategies to combat it, the importance of cybersecurity and the lack of workers in this area, the importance of media in the digital age, the protection of journalists and their contribution to democracy, electronic and online voting systems (their advantages, challenges and their effective influence on the electorate), as well as the role of academia i understanding the digital dimension by citizens. Experiences of digital tools with effective influence on democratic participation were also shared, such as the online petitions system developed in the Portuguese Parliament, and the importance of artificial intelligence, its opportunities, risks and challenges, the possible behavior manipulation through it, the role of ChatGPT, but also artificial intelligence associated with mobility, the relevance of maintaining the association between principles, technology and regulation, and the need for Europe to become a pioneer in the digital area and not just reactive to innovations from the United States or China.

In conclusion, and despite the need to assess the risks and threats that technologies can bring to democracy, it is also necessary to create specific criteria to analyze the effective influence of digital tools in representative democracy.

The members of the academic committee also met, the following day and on the sidelines of this conference, to discuss their conclusions and the next steps. The next conference will take place in Cyprus in 2024.

All the Videos are available at the website of our Parliamentary TV Channel:

• 16 June, part 1(opening and lessons learned): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7159&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-1-6

• 16 June, part 2 (welcome by the Speaker): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7160&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-2-6

• 17 June, part 1 (session 1): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7161&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-3-6

• 17 June, part 2 (session 2): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7162&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-4-6

• 17 June, part 3 (cybersecurity): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7163&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-5-6

• 17 June, part 4 (AI and round table): https://canal.parlamento.pt/?cid=7164&title=conferencia-literacia-digital-6-6

Photos:

WHY IT MATTERS FOR REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

Dates:

16/06/2023 -18/06/2023

Senate Hall, Assembleia da República of Portugal - Lisbon

Ώρα διεξαγωγής:

Friday: 16:00-19:30

Saturday: 9:15-19:45

Sunday: 9:00-14:30

EXTRA MATERIAL

INVITATION

PROGRAM

Conference: Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy

parliamentadmin — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Conference: Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy parliamentadmin Fri, 10/06/2022 - 18:00

The Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, the European Parliament, and the Parliaments of Cyprus, Estonia, Italy, Portugal and Spain hold a conference on the subject “Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy”. The conference will take place in the Senate Hall of the Hellenic Parliament in Athens on June 10-11 and will conclude its works with a workshop in the Vouleftikon Hall in Nafplion on June 12.

In recent years, the necessity, but also the limits of the “digital transformation” have been major issues in the public debate on governance throughout Europe. What is the future of representative democracy? Has representative democracy become obsolete? How can it adapt to the new technological and social realities? In this context, the role of technology in democratic processes; artificial intelligence; the influence of social media on the electoral and/or social behavior of citizens and politicians; transparency and the need to adapt to the new digital age remain key issues. The conference aims -through dialogue between academics and parliament officials- to draw useful conclusions regarding the way technology is so far managed and to reflect on new ways of approaching this issue.

ACADEMIC COMMITTEE
Chair:

Nikos K. Alivizatos, Emeritus Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, member, Venice Commission

Members:

Eschel Alpermann, Head of Strategy and Innovation Unit, European Parliament
Bruno Dias Pinheiro, Permanent Member of the COSAC Secretariat, former Permanent Representative of the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic to the EU Institutions
Achilles C. Emilianides, Professor, Dean of the School of Law, University of Nicosia
Marion Guillart, Permanent Representative of the Estonian Parliament to the EU
Evanthis Hatzivassiliou, Professor, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Secretary-General, Hellenic Parliament Foundation
Theodore Karapiperis, former Head of Scientific Foresight Unit, European Parliament
María López Moreno de Cala, Director of the International Relations Department, Spanish Congress of Deputies
Giovanni Rizzoni, Head of the Research Service, Italian Chamber of Deputies.

Working Language: English
Admission is free for the public upon presentation of ID.

Photos:

Συνέδριο: Digital Technologies and the Stakes for Representative Democracy

Dates:

10/06/2022 -11/06/2022

Hall of Senate, Hellenic Parliament

Ώρα διεξαγωγής:

Friday: 18:00-21:00

Saturday: 9:30-20:30

EXTRA MATERIAL

INVITATION

PROGRAMME

1915-1920

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

1915-1920 admin Tue, 06/04/2021 - 13:20

In 1915, during the crucial phase of World War I, Venizelos, Prime Minister of Greece at the time, entered in disagreement with King Constantine over the choices of the Greek Monarch regarding matters of foreign affairs, as well as his intervention in function of the institution. In September 1915, Venizelos resigned from office. One year later, he left for Thessaloniki, where he established a Provisional Government and declared that Greece would join the war in support of the Entente. As a result, Greece had two separate governments that supported totally opposite policies, whilst society walked the path of National Schism.

The Treaty of Sèvres, signed in Paris, on July 28 / August 10, 1920, was the culmination of the diplomatic triumphs of the Greek politician.

Please click on images for more information.

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

Locations

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 07:17:21 +0000

Locations admin Fri, 31/07/2020 - 10:17

The Propylaea

The founding stone of the University’s central building, designed by Christian Hansen, was laid on 2 July 1839. The main wing of the building –known as Propylaea– was completed in 1841 and lectures were transferred there. The project was financed through public fund-raising.

Construction works continued in the next decades, including the painting of murals on the walls of the building, which is now considered to be part of the famous “Athenian trilogy”, along with the National Library and the Academy of Athens, forming an exceptional nucleus of imposing neoclassical architecture at the heart of Athens.

Apart from the University’s administrative services and lecture halls, the Propylaea hosted various institutions connected to the University: the Numismatic Museum, laboratories and evening classes or the Anatomy Laboratory. At the same time, the precincts of the building were –and still are– among the most well-known spots of Athens: a place for meeting and protesting. This is where student demonstrations depart from, both in easy and difficult times, such as the period of the Triple Occupation (1941-1944) or the demonstrations for the Cyprus dispute in the 1950s.

Art

The Propylaea building and its precincts were not only a place of memory but also a place of art. Apart from its architecture, the murals of the building are of particular interest, especially the one located at the internal façade of the Propylaea —depicting Otto sitting on a throne surrounded by the sciences reborn in the newly-founded Greek State— as well as the murals of the event hall, depicting famous men and the Greek scholars who spread their work.

In 1869, on the occasion of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the 1821 Greek Revolution, the University’s Rectorate commissioned the statues of Rigas Velestinlis and Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople, which were installed at the Propylaea and inaugurated with public ceremonies.

In the years that followed, the installation of the statues of humanist Ad. Korais, the British politician William Ewart Gladstone, the first governor of Greece Ioannis Kapodistrias, as well as of memorial columns for the students killed during the 1897 war and the First World Warwars, converted the Propylaea precincts into a memorial, a symbolic location of Greece’s modern history, which also maintained links to the Antiquity.

A city within the city

From early on, the Propylaea building was not enough to cover the University’s teaching and administrative needs. The University gradually spread in the city of Athens, through various institutions (museums, laboratories, hospitals, the University Club etc.), which functioned mainly as spaces of research and exercise, but also of entertainment, studying and meeting.

At the same time, new neighbourhoods such as Exarchia and Neapoli, started receiving numerous students from rural areas who were looking for a place to stay. Their itineraries created a city within the city, delimiting the University’s territory: from the hospitals to the Students’ Club, from the Chemistry Building to the Sports Hall.

Today, the Propylaea, the Theoretical Sciences Building on Solonos Str., the Medical School at Goudi, the University Campus at Zografou and dozens of other buildings in Athens, host the activities of a vibrant and bustling University.

Επισκέψεις σχολείων στη Βουλή

admin — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 20:47:27 +0000

Parliament Visit admin Tue, 17/03/2020 - 12:19

Dates:

09/04/2019 - 23/06/2019

01/08/2019 - 20/10/2019

11/11/2019 - 31/12/2019

Ώρες επίσκεψης 1ης περιόδου:

Monday - Friday: 9:00-22:00

Ώρες επίσκεψης 2ης περιόδου:

Monday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Tuesday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Wednesday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Thursday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Friday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00, 16:00-17:00, 17:00-18:00, 18:00-19:00, 19:00-20:00, 20:00-21:00

Saturday: 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00, 16:00-17:00, 17:00-18:00

Sunday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00, 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00

How to arrange for a visit

►Individuals

English language guided tours are held every Friday and Monday at 14:00, during June, July and September.

Each 1hr30min long guided tour is free of charge and offers visitors the opportunity to discover the Assembly Hall, as well as to learn about Modern Greek history, the form of government in Greece, parliamentary procedures and the history of the Hellenic Parliament building.

Book your visit at visits@parliament.gr at least 5 days in advance.

Register your name, country, e-mail, mobile phone and passport number (or of other valid ID). State the date you wish to visit the Parliament.
You will receive a confirmation mail no later than 2 days prior to your visit.
On the day of your visit, please be 10 min earlier at the visitors’ entrance to the Parliament at 2 Vasilissis Sofias Avenue. Don’t forget your passport or other valid ID card.

Notes:

If you have special needs or require extra assistance please inform us.
Each visiting group will be limited to 30 people. Therefore, please contact us as early as possible.
There is no formal dress code, but please make sure that you are decently dressed.
During your tour, you are obliged to cooperate with the Parliament personnel and comply with their instructions.
The tour schedule may be changed to accommodate parliamentary proceedings and official events.

►Groups

English language guided tours for schools, student groups or other groups of visitors are held from Monday to Friday at 14:00 throughout the year, except August.

Book your visit at visits@parliament.gr at least 15 days in advance.

Register all pertinent information regarding your group (the name of the school, university, association etc, country, name of the qroup’s head, his/her e-mail, his/her mobile phone and passport number (or of other valid ID). State the date you wish to visit the Parliament.
You will receive a confirmation mail no later than 7 days prior to your visit.
On the day of the visit, please be 10 min earlier at the visitors’ entrance to the Parliament at 2 Vasilissis Sofias Avenue. The head of the group should have his/her passport or other valid ID card and a list with the names of all visitors.

Notes:

If a member of the group has special needs or requires extra assistance please inform us.
Each visiting group will be limited to 50 people.
There is no formal dress code, but please make sure that you are decently dressed.
During the tour, all members of the group are obliged to cooperate with the Parliament personnel and comply with their instructions.
The tour schedule may be changed to accommodate parliamentary proceedings and official events.

Attend a plenary sitting

To attend a plenary sitting, an entry permit needs to be secured. Please call (only Friday) the Parliament Police and Security Agency (210 -370 7150) or contact one of the Parliamentary Groups (by dialing 210 3707000 one of the operators will put you through).

The number of invitations they hand out is limited.

Visit the Library

The Main Library – Parliament Building (Syntagma Square) is open to the public:

Weekdays: 9 am to 14:00 pm and 17:30 pm- 8:30 pm and Saturdays 9 am to 14:00.

The City Library - Former Public Tobacco Factory – Lenormant St. 218 is open to the public:

Monday and Wednesday 9:00-18:00, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 9:00-15:00, Saturday 9:00-14:00

For further information, please contact the Library (210 3707227).

Contact details:

Parliament call center: (+3-0210-3707000), Fax: (+3-0210-3733566),

Address: Parliament Mansion (Megaro Voulis), GR-10021, Athens

Should you have any comments or remarks, please contact Parliament by e-mail: infopar@parliament.gr

To address technical issues over the internet, please send an e-mail to webmaster@parliament.gr

Ώρες επίσκεψης 3ης περιόδου:

Monday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00

Tuesday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00

Wednesday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00

Thursday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00

Friday: 9:00-10:00, 10:00-11:00, 11:00-12:00, 12:00-13:00

Saturday: 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Sunday: 13:00-14:00, 14:00-15:00, 15:00-16:00

Η ελληνική Στρατιωτική Διοίκηση, 1947-1948

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

Greek military command: 1947-1948 admin Fri, 28/06/2019 - 13:34

Since July 1946, following the diplomatic shift on the Dodecanese issue in favour of the Greek side, Greece managed to obtain the approval of the British Foreign Secretary regarding a “discrete” delegation of Greek State officials to the islands, who would participate in the British administration and obtain information on the needs of the territory, thus preparing the ground for the Union. Therefore, when the big moment arrived, following the signature of the Peace Treaty, the Greek authorities were prepared to face this hard task.

Until the Treaty was formally ratified, Greece would only have military command and not sovereignty over the islands. On 31 March 1947 administration transfer and acceptance ceremonies were held on all islands. The representatives of the new Administration landed on the islands amid enthusiastic celebrations, the British flags were taken down and were replaced by Greek flags. Vice Admiral Perikles Ioannidis was appointed Military Commander of the Dodecanese and immediately assumed his duties at the headquarters of Rhodes. But he was not alone. He was assisted by a competent team of civilian and military staff, headed by the Counsellor of State, and later on interim President of the Hellenic Republic for the period 1974-1975, Michail Stasinopoulos.

The Military Commander toured the islands both in a symbolic effort to establish the presence of the new administration and in an attempt to be informed of the current, very serious problems faced by each area. The most urgent issues were relieving the people affected by the war and repairing damaged infrastructure. At the same time, the administration had to address the pressing issue of landless farmers, through the fair distribution of unoccupied land with the assistance of the Agricultural Bank of Greece. Schools and health centres had to be built and repaired, historical monuments and archives had to be protected.

Greek military command: 1947-1948

Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος: Ο διπλωμάτης & o επαναστάτης

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

Eleftherios Venizelos admin Fri, 28/06/2019 - 13:23

Eleftherios Venizelos: the diplomat & the revolutionary• visions and actions

Eleftherios Venizelos distinguished himself as a politician during the 1897 Revolution. During that period, he contributed with unwavering zeal as Chancellor of Justice, as a revolutionary and a political leader and as the most reliable negotiator with the Consuls of the Protecting Powers. His disagreement with Prince George, High Commissioner of Crete, ended after the Revolution of Therisso (1905), the replacement of the totalitarian Prince by the moderate Greek politician Alexander Zàïmis and the establishment of a new, more liberal constitution for Crete.

In October 1910, Eleftherios Venizelos assumed the governance of Greece. He was the initiator of the political and financial recovery of Greece and the victorious Balkan Wars (1912-1913). After the war he struggled for the consolidation of peace in the Balkans, while strongly supporting the idea of creating a Balkan Federation.

During World War I, he came into conflict with the Crown over the orientation of Greek foreign policy. Nevertheless, at the expense of the nation’s division (1915-1917), he imposed his policy of Greece’s participation in the war on the side of the Entente. In Paris on July 28 / August 10, 1920 he signed the Treaty of Sèvres, which was the culmination of his diplomatic triumphs. At the same time, he led the effort for the creation of the League of Nations and fought for its prevalence.

In the aftermath of the Asia Minor disaster, his two radical initiatives on 1923 –the mandatory exchange of Greek and Turkish populations and the Lausanne convention which established stable frontiers between Greece and Turkey- altered the orientation of Greek politics and established the foundations of peaceful development. Returning in office in 1928, he developed peaceful initiatives towards the Balkan countries, and in 1930 he signed in Ankara the “Friendship, Neutrality and Arbitration” Agreement. Moreover, he was moved by the idea of a united Europe and he supported its creation.

The end of his career was marked by the failed coup of Venizelist officers in March 1935 and his self-exile in Paris. Yet, his interest in his country’s affairs never ceased.

Eleftherios Venizelos strongly believed in the vision of a state governed by the rule of law based on solid, modern and democratic institutions. He had the talent of imposing his views through his arguments within institutional limits. He did not hesitate, however, when he felt that the national interests were at stake, to resort to dynamic actions leading to revolutionary confrontations, whether in Crete or in Greece.

- Reproduction and republication of the material is not allowed.

- Objects in the exhibition belong to the “E.K. Venizelos Foundation” collection unless otherwise stated.

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

Ο φεμινισμός στα χρόνια της Μεταπολίτευσης, 1974-1990: ιδέες, συλλογικότητες, διεκδικήσεις

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

Feminism in the years of the Metapolitefsi, 1974-1990:ideas, collectives, demands admin Fri, 28/06/2019 - 13:15

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

1921-1936

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

1921-1936 admin Fri, 28/06/2019 - 11:51

After the Asia Minor disaster the new government established in Athens asked Eleftherios Venizelos to assume leadership in the peace negotiations undertaken with Turkey in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Greek leader signed an honorable peace treaty, in July 1923, which set the final borders of Turkey with Greece and laid the foundations of the Greek-Turkish friendship.

Please click on images for more information

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

1905-1914

admin — Wed, 24 Apr 2019 09:13:10 +0000

1905-1914 admin Fri, 28/06/2019 - 11:48

With no institutional way to oppose the Commissioner of Crete, Prince George, Eleftherios Venizelos resorted to the revolution of Therisso, in March 1905, which led to the replacement of the Prince. The new regime adopted a new liberal Constitution leading the island, through several adventures, towards its Union with Greece.

Greece at the dawn of the Balkan Wars entered a new era of huge changes with a new, charismatic Prime Minister. With the Treaty of Bucharest (August 10, 1913), Greece almost doubled its territory and increased its population by 80%.

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

EXTRA MATERIAL

Venizelos 1905-1914