Health services and expenditure: a town meeting for the citizens of Tuscany

In 2007, the Region of Tuscany chose Avventura Urbana to design and coordinate an important participatory event. The goal was to research public opinion on two fundamental topics: participation in health expenditure and the organisation of local health services (casualty departments, emergency medical services and general practitioners).

The method chosen was the Town Meeting, which enabled the involvement of professionals and experts, as well as representatives from all interest groups, in the definition and in-depth study of the topics in question. This made it possible to construct and compare different perspectives which stimulated reflection among local citizens.

The interpretation of the survey results drew on the expertise of Professor Luigi Bobbio, an expert in public policy analysis at the University of Turin and a former member of the scientific committee of the Town Meeting on the Law on Participation carried out in 2006.

The event involved around 200 people, selected at random, and took place in 10 different locations, connected over a technological system that allowed each person to actively participate.