"Crossed perspectives on participatory democracy experiences" is the theme of an international seminar that took place on 19 and 20 March, at the initiative of the IFAD (Institute for the Training of Development Agents), the IDD Network (Immigration Development Democracy), and the CCFD-Terre Solidaire. The choice of the region is significant in itself, as the Zagora province is one where civil society is among the most dynamic.

Initiated with the local support of RAZDED and FOBDEC, this seminar is part of the "Participatory Democracy" project supported by these three partners. It brought together around a hundred representatives of associations and those from immigration in France, as well as local authorities, researchers, and experts.

According to a statement from the organizers, this seminar made it possible to establish an intermediate assessment, two years after the start of the project, in a process of evaluation, capitalization, and valorization of the experiences conducted in the field.

This project works to experiment with processes of consultation and local participation within four pilot communes by strengthening the capacities of local actors, involving target populations (young people and women), and this, through the capitalization, valorization of activities, and exchanges of experience.

The aforementioned seminar made it possible to review the main results of this process and to outline the recommendations for the final phase of the project. The opportunity was seized to involve other Moroccan, French, and Malian actors, acting in the fields of co-development and participatory democracy, in connection with the contributions of emigration.

This meeting was also the culmination of the desire of the actors of the four communes to share their local governance experiences with the actors from the other shore. Panels, round tables, visits, testimonies, and workshops alternated to aim for the consolidation of approaches for more citizen participation in Morocco.