A year ago, this blog introduced ScaleDem as a Horizon Europe project asking a simple question: why do so many promising democratic innovations stay small?

The Young Citizens Assembly on Pollinators brings together 100 young voices from across the EU to discuss different perspectives, identify the main challenges, and explore possible solutions to the decline of pollinating insects. With two Assembly weekends behind us, we bring you updates about the process.

Co-Creating Our City brings together young people and local decision-makers through Citizen Science. Together, they study issues that matter to young residents, share knowledge and experiences, and develop actionable proposals for change. This collaborative approach empowers young people to take part in decision-making, builds trust between generations, and supports cities in becoming more inclusive and youth-friendly.

Hosted by the JRC and organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung and FIDE Europe, the event convened representatives from key European institutions - such as the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe, Committee of the Regions - as well as practitioners and policymakers from the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, East Belgium, Baden-Württemberg, and the OECD. Their shared goal? To exchange ideas, test new tools, and foster citizen participation in Europe.

From September 2025 to March 2026, 100 young people from across the EU will come together to deliberate over key issues connected to the decline of wild pollinating insects. With preparations for the Assembly in full swing, we have reached important milestones we wanted to share with you.

The Competence Centre has recently published practical Guidelines to evaluating processes of citizen engagement in policymaking. At the moment, it is aimed at Commission policy officers, while work at the Competence Centre continues towards expanding its usability also for other kindred institutions, as well as to the wider Community of Practice of participation and evaluation experts.

A new report from the Joint Research Centre explores the challenges and lessons learnt from the online citizen engagement process of the Conference on the Future of Europe. The report looks at the potential of digital technologies in increasing the opportunities for citizens to participate in policymaking, highlighting several of the challenges faced during the implementation of the Conference’s digital platform.

The European Commission is calling for feedback on the four Codes of Practice for Knowledge Valorisation, adopted in 2023-2024. Share your insights!

What threatens the integrity of innovative forms of citizen engagement? A new report uncovers five key risks facing deliberative mini-publics—randomly selected groups of everyday citizens tasked to deliberate and generate recommendations on complex policy issues. It highlights challenges like economic pressures, restrictive remits, poor governance, and ambiguous impact while offering strategies to strengthen these democratic innovations and ensure they fulfil their promise.

The European Commission invites EU Public Administrations to fill out an impact survey which will inform a report to policymakers in Member States and EU Institutions