Paper by Rodrigo Ramis-Moyano et al: “The increasing implementation of deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) such as Citizens’ Assemblies and Citizens’ Juries led the OECD to identify a ‘deliberative wave’. The burgeoning scholarship on DMPs has increased understanding of how they operate and their impact, but less attention has been paid to the drivers behind this diffusion. Existing research on democratic innovations has underlined the role of the governing party’s ideology as a relevant variable in the study of the adoption of other procedures such as participatory budgeting, placing left-wing parties as a prominent actor in this process. Unlike this previous literature, we have little understanding of whether mini-publics appeal equally across the ideological spectrum. This paper draws on the large-N OECD database to analyse the impact of governing party affiliation on the commissioning of DMPs in Europe across the last four decades. Our analysis finds the ideological pattern of adoption is less clear cut compared to other democratic innovations such as participatory budgeting. But stronger ideological differentiation emerges when we pay close attention to the design features of DMPs implemented…(More)”.
Spaces for Deliberation
Report by Gustav Kjær Vad Nielsen & James MacDonald-Nelson: “As citizens’ assemblies and other forms of citizen deliberation are increasingly implemented in many parts of the world, it is becoming more relevant to explore and question the role of the physical spaces in which these processes take place.
This paper builds on existing literature that considers the relationships between space and democracy. In the literature, this relationship has been studied with a focus on the architecture of parliament buildings, and on the role of urban public spaces and architecture for political culture, both largely within the context of representative democracy and with little or no attention given to spaces for facilitated citizen deliberation. With very limited considerations of the spaces for deliberative assemblies in the literature, in this paper, we argue that the spatial qualities for citizen deliberation demand more critical attention.
Through a series of interviews with leading practitioners of citizens’ assemblies from six different countries, we explore what spatial qualities are typically considered in the planning and implementation of these assemblies, what are the recurring challenges related to the physical spaces where they take place, and the opportunities and limitations for a more intentional spatial design. In this paper, we synthesise our findings and formulate a series of considerations for the spatial qualities of citizens’ assemblies aimed at informing future practice and further research…(More)”.
Engaging Youth on Responsible Data Reuse: 5 Lessons Learnt from a Multi-Country Experiment
Article by Elena Murray, Moiz Shaikh and Stefaan G. Verhulst: “Young people seeking essential services — like mental health care, education, or public benefits — are often asked to share personal data in order to access the service, without having any say in how it is being collected, shared or used, or why. If young people distrust how their data is being used, they may avoid services or withhold important information, fearing misuse. This can unintentionally widen the very gaps these services aim to close.
To build trust, service providers and policymakers must involve young people in co-designing how their data is collected and used. Understanding their concerns, values, and expectations is key to developing data practices that reflect their needs. Empowering young people to develop the conditions for data re-use and design solutions to their concerns enables digital self determination.
The question is then: what does meaningful engagement actually look like — and how can we get it right?
To answer that question, we engaged four partners in four different countries and conducted:
- 1000 hours of youth participation, involving more than 70 young people.
- 12 youth engagement events.
- Six expert talks and mentorship sessions.
These activities were undertaken as part of the NextGenData project, a year-long global collaboration supported by the Botnar Foundation, that piloted a methodology for youth engagement on responsible data reuse in Moldova, Tanzania, India and Kyrgyzstan.
A key outcome of our work was a youth engagement methodology, which we recently launched. In the below, we reflect on what we learnt — and how we can apply these learnings to ensure that the future of data-driven services both serves the needs of, and is guided by, young people.
Lessons Learnt:…(More)”
Digital Technologies and Participatory Governance in Local Settings: Comparing Digital Civic Engagement Initiatives During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Chapter by Nathalie Colasanti, Chiara Fantauzzi, Rocco Frondizi & Noemi Rossi: “Governance paradigms have undergone a deep transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitating agile, inclusive, and responsive mechanisms to address evolving challenges. Participatory governance has emerged as a guiding principle, emphasizing inclusive decision-making processes and collaboration among diverse stakeholders. In the outbreak context, digital technologies have played a crucial role in enabling participatory governance to flourish, democratizing participation, and facilitating the rapid dissemination of accurate information. These technologies have also empowered grassroots initiatives, such as civic hacking, to address societal challenges and mobilize communities for collective action. This study delves into the realm of bottom-up participatory initiatives at the local level, focusing on two emblematic cases of civic hacking experiences launched during the pandemic, the first in Wuhan, China, and the second in Italy. Through a comparative lens, drawing upon secondary sources, the aim is to analyze the dynamics, efficacy, and implications of these initiatives, shedding light on the evolving landscape of participatory governance in times of crisis. Findings underline the transformative potential of civic hacking and participatory governance in crisis response, highlighting the importance of collaboration, transparency, and inclusivity…(More)”.
Activated Citizenship: The Transformative Power of Citizens’ Assemblies
Book by Marjan H. Ehsassi: “To counter pervasive levels of citizen disengagement from political institutions, this book examines democratic innovations that meaningfully engage with citizens to address some of the deficits of Western representative democracies.
Citizens’ assemblies provide one such innovation, offering opportunities for more consistent participation between elections, more meaningful input in government decision making, and more impactful platforms for participation. This cutting-edge book introduces a new definition for an Activated Citizen, along with a methodology to measure civic and political engagement. Relying on a mixed-methods approach and field research conducted in Paris, Brussels, Ottawa, and Petaluma (California), as well as participant observations, over 180 surveys, 61 in-depth interviews and storytelling, the book provides case studies and in-depth analysis of hotbutton topics including climate change, unhoused populations, democratic expression, assisted suicide and euthanasia. Each chapter weaves quantitative results with rich qualitative testimonies from participants, government representatives, and observers. Based on empirical evidence, the book explores the ways in which government-led citizens’ assemblies can promote a more Activated Citizen. To fully realize the transformative potential of deliberative platforms, a final chapter offers a blueprint for impact, outlining concrete measures along with recommendations for the design and implementation of future government-initiated deliberative platforms…(More)”.
Being heard: Shaping digital futures for and with children
Blog by Laura Betancourt Basallo, Kim R. Sylwander and Sonia Livingstone: “One in three internet users is a child. Digital technologies are shaping children’s present and future, yet most digital spaces are designed by adults, for adults. Despite this disconnect, digital platforms have emerged as important spaces for children’s participation in political and cultural life, partly because this is often limited in traditional spaces.
Children’s access to and participation in the digital environment is not just desirable: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child applies equally online and offline. Article 12 outlines children’s right to be heard in ways that genuinely influence the decisions affecting their lives. In 2021, the Committee on the Rights of the Child published its General comment No. 25, the authoritative framework on how children’s rights should be applied in relation to the digital environment—this emphasises the importance of children’s right to be heard, and to participation in the digital sphere.
Core elements for meaningful participation
Creating meaningful and rights-respecting opportunities for child and youth participation in research, policymaking, and product design demands strategic planning and practical actions. As scholar Laura Lundy explains, these opportunities should guarantee to children:
- SPACE: Children must be allowed to express their views.
- VOICE: Children must be facilitated to express their views.
- AUDIENCE: Their views must be listened to.
- INFLUENCE: Their views must be acted upon as appropriate.
This rights-based approach emphasises the importance of not just collecting children’s views but actively listening to them and ensuring that their input is meaningfully acted upon, while avoiding the pitfalls of tokenism, manipulation or unsafe practices. Implementing such engagement requires careful consideration of safeguards regarding privacy, freedom of thought, and inclusive access for children with limited digital skills or access.
Here we provide a curated list of resources to conduct consultations with children, using digital technologies and then about the digital environment. ..(More)”.
Climate Assemblies and the Law: A Research Roadmap
Article by Leslie Anne and Duvic Paoli: “The article is interested in the relationship between citizens’ assemblies on climate change (‘climate assemblies’) and the law. It offers a research roadmap on the legal dimensions of climate assemblies with the view to advancing our knowledge of deliberative climate governance. The article explores six fundamental areas of inquiry on which legal scholarship can offer relevant insights. They relate to: i) understanding the outcomes of climate assemblies; ii) clarifying their role in the public law relationship between individuals and government; iii) gaining insights into the making of climate legislation and other rules; iv) exploring the societal authority of norms; v) illustrating the transnational governance of climate change, including the diffusion of its norms and vi) offering a testing ground for the design of legal systems that are more ecologically and socially just. The aim is to nudge legal scholars into exploring the richness of the questions raised by the emergence of climate assemblies and, in turn, to encourage other social science scholars to reflect on how the legal perspective might contribute to better understanding their object of study…(More)”.
A Funder’s Guide to Citizens’ Assemblies
Democracy Funders Network: “For too many Americans, the prospect of engaging with lawmakers about the important issues in their lives is either logistically inaccessible, or unsatisfactory in result. Exploring An Innovative Approach to Democratic Governance: A Funder’s Guide to Citizens’ Assemblies, produced by Democracy Funders Network and New America, explores the potential for citizens’ assemblies to transform and strengthen democratic processes in the U.S. The guide offers philanthropists and in-depth look at the potential opportunities and challenges citizens’ assemblies present for building civic power at the local level and fomenting authentic civic engagement within communities.
Citizens’ assemblies belong in the broader field of collaborative governance, an umbrella term for public engagement that shifts governing power and builds trust by bringing together government officials and community members to collaborate on policy outcomes through shared decision-making…(More)”.
Artificial intelligence for digital citizen participation: Design principles for a collective intelligence architecture
Paper by Nicolas Bono Rossello, Anthony Simonofski, and Annick Castiaux: “The challenges posed by digital citizen participation and the amount of data generated by Digital Participation Platforms (DPPs) create an ideal context for the implementation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions. However, current AI solutions in DPPs focus mainly on technical challenges, often neglecting their social impact and not fully exploiting AI’s potential to empower citizens. The goal of this paper is thus to investigate how to design digital participation platforms that integrate technical AI solutions while considering the social context in which they are implemented. Using Collective Intelligence as kernel theory, and through a literature review and a focus group, we generate design principles for the development of a socio-technically aware AI architecture. These principles are then validated by experts from the field of AI and citizen participation. The principles suggest optimizing the alignment of AI solutions with project goals, ensuring their structured integration across multiple levels, enhancing transparency, monitoring AI-driven impacts, dynamically allocating AI actions, empowering users, and balancing cognitive disparities. These principles provide a theoretical basis for future AI-driven artifacts, and theories in digital citizen participation…(More)”.
Announcing the Youth Engagement Toolkit for Responsible Data Reuse: An Innovative Methodology for the Future of Data-Driven Services
Blog by Elena Murray, Moiz Shaikh, and Stefaan G. Verhulst: “Young people seeking essential services — whether mental health support, education, or government benefits — often face a critical challenge: they are asked to share their data without having a say in how it is used or for what purpose. While the responsible use of data can help tailor services to better meet their needs and ensure that vulnerable populations are not overlooked, a lack of trust in data collection and usage can have the opposite effect.
When young people feel uncertain or uneasy about how their data is being handled, they may adopt privacy-protective behaviors — choosing not to seek services at all or withholding critical information out of fear of misuse. This risks deepening existing inequalities rather than addressing them.
To build trust, those designing and delivering services must engage young people meaningfully in shaping data practices. Understanding their concerns, expectations, and values is key to aligning data use with their preferences. But how can this be done effectively?
This question was at the heart of a year-long global collaboration through the NextGenData project, which brought together partners worldwide to explore solutions. Today, we are releasing a key deliverable of that project: The Youth Engagement Toolkit for Responsible Data Reuse:
Based on a methodology developed and piloted during the NextGenData project, the Toolkit describes an innovative methodology for engaging young people on responsible data reuse practices, to improve services that matter to them…(More)”.