6th Citizen Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival
Over the last 8 years, the Citizen Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival brought together people who are interested in and work on the engagement of citizens through deliberative and other participatory formats, in both science and policymaking.
The Festival instalments have focused on different topics since the start in 2018, for example, engagement of youth, participation on environmental issues and governance. This year, the Festival will take as its reference point the European Democracy Shield (EDS) presented by the Commission on 12 November 2025.
As far as citizen participation is concerned, the EDS builds on the 2020 European Democracy Action Plan and the 2023 Defence of Democracy Communication, which led to the adoption of a Commission Recommendation on Citizen Participation in Policymaking. As one of the priority areas of the EDS is ‘boosting societal resilience and citizen engagement’, the 6th edition of the Festival will be focusing on ongoing work on relevant citizen participation topics that support the Commission’s policy on citizen participation.
The past 5 editions were organised by the European Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (CC-DEMOS), the Festival being the main event of the Competence Centre’s Community of Practice. As such, one of the key objectives of the Festival is to facilitate connections between the different communities involved in citizen engagement: policymakers, public servants, researchers, practitioners, innovators and civil society representatives, with networking opportunities forming an important part of the programme.
The programme will feature a variety of activities, including expert panels, keynote interventions, roundtables, workshops, as well as an exhibition of relevant projects. These sessions will aim to reflect on new trends in deliberative and participatory democracy, showcasing innovations, identifying still missing elements and discussing the challenges.
Registration will open in early September, 2026.