synAthina is the City of Athens' social innovation and civic engagement platform, launched in 2013 during the Greek financial crisis. With public trust in institutions at historic lows — only 13% of Greek citizens trusted public institutions at the time — the municipality created synAthina as a digital and physical space to rebuild the relationship between citizens and local government.
The platform allows individuals and community groups to submit ideas, volunteer activities, and proposals for improving life in Athens. These submissions are mapped and catalogued, creating a dynamic digital archive of collaborative civic action across the city. The synAthina team then connects initiative-takers with relevant government departments, NGOs, and private-sector partners who can help scale their impact. When outdated regulations block promising ideas, the team works directly with City Hall to update policies and procedures.
In 2014, synAthina won the Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge, receiving US$1.2 million to further develop the platform. The award recognised the project's potential to demonstrate a new model of responsive, citizen-centred urban governance. Since then, synAthina has been recognised by the OECD Observatory of Public Sector Innovation (OPSI), the European Commission, and EUROCITIES, which gave it an Innovation Award in 2016.
The platform uses participatory methods including open calls, collaborative workshops, capacity-building programmes, and place-making strategies. Notable spin-off projects have included reactivating vacant public rental properties and coordinating graffiti-removal campaigns. The synAthina model has been shared internationally, with cities such as Vilnius drawing on its approach to civic participation and government-citizen co-creation.