From projects to permanence: Citizens´ assemblies as new democratic institutions in cities and regions
Cities are messy, complex, diverse, beautiful places - and they are where most people live. From the neighbourhoods we live in, to how we move around, cities and regions are the places where decision making impacts us greatly.
At the same time, most people don´t have opportunities to truly shape these decisions. Citizens´ assemblies offer a way to tackle this - particularly when they are embedded as part of our democratic infrastructure.
In this event, DemocacyNext launches From Projects to Permanence: Citizens´ Assemblies as New Democratic Institutions in Cities and Regions, a paper reflecting on the lessons from DemocracyNext´s Cities Programme - experience advising two cities and two regions across three continents: Esch-sur-Alzette, Vilnius, Kerewan, and Central Oregon. It makes the case for approaching citizens´ assemblies not as one-off events dependent on political will at a moment in time, but as new institutions to which power can be shifted. Doing so requires a completely different mindset. It needs to be approached like a marathon, not a sprint.
The paper offers honest reflections on what went well, the challenges encountered, and what could have been done differently - spanning political groundwork, communications, evaluation, technology, multilingualism, and funding. Running through it all: what does it take to make a single assembly the beginning of something permanent?
What will be explored
- What approaching an assembly with the ambition to institutionalise from the start looks like in practice
- Lessons from four diverse contexts across three continents
- The role of ecosystems, capacity building, and network weaving in sustaining democratic infrastructure
- Recommendations for public servants, elected officials, practitioners, and funders
Speakers
- James MacDonald-Nelson, Cities Programme Lead, DemocracyNext
- Hannah Terry, Cities Programme Coordinator
- Satang Dumbuya, Assembly Facilitator, The Gambia
- Beatričė Umbrasaitė, City architect advisor, Vilnius
- Tammy Baney, Executive Director at Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council
Moderated by Josh Burgess, Senior Advisor - USA Program, DemocracyNext.
This webinar will be recorded and shared after the session via the DemocracyNext YouTube channel.