The European Climate Pact continues its mission to inspire climate action with a series of initiatives this October. From educational webinars to the ambassador call, these initiatives are designed to engage citizens, amplify their voices, and drive sustainable change. Whether you're new to climate action or an expert advocate, there's something for everyone to get involved and make a difference. Here’s how you can participate.

Every year a new European Capital of Democracy is selected by a jury of 4,000 European citizens, as part of a Europe-wide initiative to strengthen democracy. Barcelona, the first ever European Capital of Democracy 2023/24, will soon hand over the title to Vienna. But which city will become the next European Capital of Democracy in 2026?

The CLIMAS project represents a significant leap forward in integrating citizen science into climate assemblies with The Citizen Science Toolkit. It is designed to be a comprehensive resource for organizations, communities, and participants involved in climate citizens’ assemblies. It serves dual purposes: it can be used as a stand-alone tool and as an integrated component of the CLIMAS Toolbox.

The 5th Citizen Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival, which took place 12-14 June in Brussels, celebrated the work done at the intersection of two European Commission’s priorities: A new push for European democracy, with a focus on innovations in participatory and deliberative processes, and the European Green Deal.

A JRC study is exploring impact of citizen engagement (CE) to better understand how participatory processes influence and transform policymaking and society.

A Gathering place to cO-design and co-cReate Adaptation – AGORA - is a Horizon Europe project supporting the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change.

The Deliberative Democracy and Citizens’ Assemblies Cohort members Iain Walker [Executive Director newDemocracy Australia], Art O’Leary [the Electoral Commissioner for Ireland], Gaetane Ricard-Nihoul and Angela Pereira [from the European Commission], Graham Allen [the Convenor of the Citizens’ Convention on UK Democracy] and Gillian Dorner [Deputy Director of the OECD’s Public Governance Directorate] delved deeper into the bridge building power of deliberation for contentious decision-making in a context of reported growing mistrust in democracy.

The Sensing for Justice (SensJus) project researches the potential of grassroots-driven environmental monitoring, i.e. Citizen Sensing, as a source of evidence in environmental justice litigation, and as a tool for environmental mediation in extra-judicial setting.

With the European elections on the horizon and 2024 being a record year for elections around the globe, the European Research Council (ERC) has released a report that dives into its project portfolio centred on democracy. The report presents ERC-funded projects working on the multifaceted challenges confronting democratic systems as well as the resilience of democratic principles and civic engagement.

INSPIRE (Intersectional Space of Participation: Inclusive, Resilient, Embedded) is a new Horizon Europe-funded project starting in April 2024 that aims to strengthen intersectional inclusion within participatory deliberative processes. It is coordinated by Sonia Bussu at the University of Birmingham and Brigitte Geissel at Goethe University Frankfurt with partners from Northern, Southern, Central and Eastern Europe. The Consortium includes academics, practitioners, policy experts and digital designers, all committed to widen the scope and reach of democracy, using creative methods and margin-…