The workshop on "E-governance and E-participation for better urban policies and improved quality of life" was held on the 3^rd of March 2015 in the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština to kick start the implementation of two pilot projects, by introducing  "Future Policy Modeling" (FUPOL) and Block-by-Block/Minecraft as tools to support participatory decision-making for better urban policies, improved services delivery to citizens and enhanced public spaces through the use of new technologies and methods for e-governance and e-participation.

The Director of Urbanism, Mr. Liburn Aliu expressed his appreciation for the initiative and the intended contribution to advancing public involvement in urban policy design and place-making. Mr. Aliu went further to highlight the complexity of the challenges that the Municipality of Prishtinë/Priština faces and welcomed the implementation of the projects as tools that will facilitate project prioritization as well as channeling ideas to improve livability for the citizens of Prishtinë/Priština.

Mr. Peter Sonntagbauer - Project Director from the consortium coordinator Cellent AG, introduced FUPOL project being currently piloted in 18 partner cities in Europe, Asia and Africa. It is a tool that offers a completely new approach to traditional policy development and decision-making processes based on major innovations like multichannel social computing, crowd sourcing and simulation of policy impacts.

The FUPOL turnkey, consisting of the software, guidelines, training materials and consulting services, is supporting governments, citizens, their associations and NGOs in developing selected policy domains in urban regions with appropriate ICT technologies.

The Block-by-Block/ Minecraft project was introduced by Mr. Frederic Saliez, UN-Habitat representative, as an e-participation tool that will enable the Municipality of Prishtinë/ Priština to involve through video gaming, relevant stakeholders, and notably the youth, in generating concrete ideas for public space upgrading with the further aim to develop a city-wide public space policy.

The initiative is supported by UN-Habitat Kosovo.