The 1^st international conference on eParticipation (ePart) takes place 2-4 September 2009 in Linz, Austria. This conference emerges from the annual EGOV conferences and it aims at establishing a scientific floor for interdisciplinary eParticipation research. It is co-organized by the DEMO-net project (www.demo-net.org) 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.