UNED Course: ICSW International Conference on Participation, social welfare and local administration in times of AI
Dates: April 24-25th, 2025
Location: Convent of Santo Domingo, Ronda
Website: UNED Course & Activities
From a global perspective, citizens are at a crossroads in the field of social welfare and social services. On the one hand, social welfare is anchored in citizen participation, which allows us to participate in decision-making processes, and to exercise our rights. On the other hand, the accelerated digitalization of our administrations after the COVID-19 pandemic, is reinforced by the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence. In this process, people living in rural, depopulated and isolated environments cannot be left behind. This international conference, funded by Diputación de Málaga and with the collaboration of Ayuntamiento de Ronda and ICSW , will address the challenges of participation in the field of social welfare, with special reference to local government, the administration closest to the and responsible for social services in many citizens countries.
What path should we take, in a context where new technologies can reinforce participation, or can they reinforce hierarchization and surveillance? How to redefine and reinforce citizen participation in a context of digitization and Artificial Intelligence? What is our model of digitization? What are the key competencies we need to be effective in a social environment that is physical, but also reproduces itself in the metaverse? What role can co-design and co-creation methodologies play in the field of citizen participation? How to strengthen intergenerational solidarity? How to address the problems of isolation and loneliness in rural and isolated environments?
To this end, we are counting on the special participation of ICSW Europe, which is organizing one of the sessions of the conference. Based on the results of the international meeting on participation held in Ronda in 2024, the final version of the ICSW Ronda Declaration, the result of a long participatory process in 2024 and 2025, will also be presented at this conference.
