Introduction

Dear readers,

Welcome to the second newsletter of the Demos@Work project! Thank you for your interest in our work.

Our vision is to facilitate European-wide discussion between elected representatives and civil society via the use of ICT on the harmful effects of smoking, an emerging policy issues that has a potential impact on all countries within the European Union.

The focus of Demos@Work is mainly on citizens and politicians. We are creating, with the support of the EU, an online collaborative platform (www.demosatwork.org) that aims to facilitate dialogue between regional/national-level elected representatives, the European parliament and citizens on health issues. It will use and test forms and methods of civic engagement. This will be achieved by configuring and putting into trial a secure, mobile environment through which elected representatives are able not only to engage with citizens on policy issues, but also to communicate and collaborate with their peers.

Your active involvement, feedback and experiences are valuable. Therefore, we would like to invite you to actively take part by sending us your views and information on relevant activities and events as well as by participating in the story telling section on our site. We are also very much interested in hearing about similar initiatives.

The Demos@work newsletter features brief updates on our activities and on other related initiatives in the fields of e-democracy, e-government, citizen participation and legislative technologies, including useful links, resources and events.

Thank you,
The demos@work team

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Project news

The Demos@work project was presented at diverse European seminars and conferences including:

• the 1st eParticipation Projects Concertation Meeting organized within the MOMENTUM project. The purpose of the meeting was to foster collaboration between the eParticipation projects.
• the 7th eGov 2008 Conference,in the framework of the “eParticipation Research Projects: From Theory to Practice” Workshop. The workshop took place in Torino, Italy, September 3, 2008 in the framework of the 2008 DEXA event.
• a specific section of the World e-Democracy Forum organized by Momentum. World e-Democracy Forum is one of the top international events in the field that took place in Issy-les-Moulineaux, Paris, France October 16-17, 2008.
• the MOMENTUM workshop that was organized in the framework of the EDem2008 conference that took place in the Danube University Krems, Austria, September 29-30, 2008.
• the 17th Annual Conference of the Association of European Election Officials that took place in September 2008, in Constanta, Romania.

Meetings of the Demos@Work Consortium
The second meeting of the Demos@Work consortium took place in Vilnius, Lithuania (3-4 of July 2008) in order to evaluate work done and to coordinate project activities. The 3rd project management meeting took place in Athens, on November 6-7, 2008. During the meeting organizational and managerial issues were discussed along with the evaluation of the platform.

Launching of Alpha version of the Demos@Work platform
The alpha version of the Demos@Work platform was installed in Lithuania and Catalonia.

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Interesting initiatives

No Smoking Day
No Smoking Day is the UK's foremost annual health awareness campaign, helping over 1.5 million smokers quit for good since 1984. The No Smoking Day campaign is organized by a charity of the same name which is supported by a coalition of governmental and voluntary sector organisations with an interest in health. The following website has all the information and resources you need to quit smoking, or to organize your own event on No Smoking Day: Wednesday 11 March 2009. For more information, please click here.

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Publications

European Trends towards Smoke-free Provisions
This report of the ENSP (European Network for Smoking Prevention) presents a summary of the latest developments regarding smoke-free workplace legislation in Europe.

For more information click here.

Smoking Cessation in the Workplace: A Guide to Helping Your Employees Quit Smoking
This guide is for employers who want to help their employees quit smoking. It is also for any workplace leaders such as union representatives, workplace health promotion or occupational health representatives, human resource managers, and employee assistance program representatives. It outlines the reasons why workplaces should get involved and support employees' efforts to cut down or quit smoking. It also provides practical, relevant material on smoking cessation that can be used either as part of a comprehensive wellness program or as an initiative on its own.

For more information click here.

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Events

First Demos@Work project workshop: April 22 - 24, 2009 | Prague, Czech Republic
The first results from the Demos@Work project will be presented at the first workshop being held during the 7th Eastern European e|Gov Days: eGovernment & eBusiness Ecosystem & eJustice. The aim of the workshop entitled "Reconnecting citizens with politics and policy making: Assessing the first results from the Demos@Work project" is to showcase practical achievements in the eParticipation area and to reconnect citizens with politics and policy making.

For more information click here.

ePart - The 1st international eParticipation conference: August 30 - September 3, 2009 | Linz, Austria
The 1st international eParticipation conference emerges from the annual EGOV conferences (www.egov-conference.org) and it aims at establishing a scientific floor for interdisciplinary eParticipation research. It is co-organized by the DEMO-net project and will continue its work in the newly established eParticipation Network, a not-for-profit association to support the researcher community in integrating leading researchers in the field of eParticipation.

For more information click here.

Ministerial Conference "eHEALTH FOR INDIVIDUALS, SOCIETY, AND ECONOMY": 18 – 20 February 2009 | Prague, Czech Republic
The aim of the Conference is to focus mainly on the impacts of eHealth solutions and processes rather than on its technological background, although the advanced and accessible information and communication technology is an essential condition of all eHealth concepts.

For more information click here.

14th World Conference on Tobacco or Health: 8 -12 March 2009 | Mumbai, India
This is a great new experience and an opportunity to interact with a large audience of tobacco control advocates, educators and renowned scientists from around the world.

For more information click here.

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