How to scale high? From democratic innovation to institutional reality
Democratic innovations are helping governments make more inclusive, participatory and legitimate policy. Yet many promising initiatives struggle to move beyond isolated experiments and do not scale high. Too often, they are not systematically embedded in institutions and not supported across political groups.
The second webinar of the Resonance Space series therefore explores this central challenge and asks what can be done to anchor democratic innovations in institutions and ensure their long-term impact. Four speakers will present relevant learnings before we move into thematic breakout rooms dedicated to peer-learning and reflection.
We invite you to join the discussion along other policymakers, practitioners and researchers from across the world:
“How to Scale High? From Democratic Innovation to Institutional Reality”
5 Octobre 2026, 16h00 – 18h00 CET
Online – Register here
The webinar will be moderated by Constantin Schäfer (ifok) and kick-started by Fionna Saintraint (DCU) who briefly presents her research results on “scaling high” challenges at the beginning.
Moreover, it features three panelists with extensive experience in embedding democratic innovations institutionally:
- Jonathan Moskovic (WhatAboutDem)
- Ieva Cesnulaityte (UCLouvain)
- Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul (European Commission)
Together, they will discuss approaches to addressing three key challenges for the institutional embedding of democratic innovations:
- Political Buy-in: How to secure (cross-party) support for democratic innovations and to support champions within administrations?
- Capacity Building: How to empower administrations with the knowledge to run such processes and change their approach to participation?
- Standardization: How to safeguard process design and their allocated resources without compromising their need to be adaptable?
Following this panel discussion, you will be invited to join a breakout room of your choice to unpack approaches to one challenge, reflect on how it resonates with your experiences, and consider what it would take to transpose them to your own context.