The Citizen Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival is an open event that brings together people of diverse backgrounds who work on – or are interested in – the engagement of citizens in science, policymaking and deliberative democracy, in Europe and beyond. It is also the main networking event of the Community of Practice of the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy.  

There seems little need to justify the choice of the theme for the fifth edition of the Festival. As the situation of the environment continues to deteriorate, with more and more urgent calls to action from scientists, activists and environmental organisations, climate and biodiversity citizen assemblies as well as other participatory initiatives are mushrooming not just across Europe but also throughout the whole world, at different scales of governance, organised by public authorities or by civil society organisations. Many important policies have also been passed or are being developed, some of which call explicitly for the involvement of citizens in the governance of the issues (e.g. on biodiversity, climate change, oceans and soils).  

We feel it’s time to take stock and reflect on what has been achieved so far, what still needs to be done and chart the path for the future, identifying the missing pieces. As always, we will bring a diverse programme of expert panels, case studies, method and tool showcases, policy and artistic interventions, research reflections, with each day dedicated to a different theme.  

Watch this space as over the next months we will be building up the narrative of the Festival, announcing possibilities for collaboration, developing the programme and teasing about the sessions.