The Council of Europe, in in partnership with FIDE – Europe, invites civil servants and CSOs working with a focus on national-level policy-making to a two-day workshop in Strasbourg to deepen their understanding and practical knowledge on deliberative democracy and learn about the first steps to organise a Citizen Assembly at the national level.

Background

Integrating citizens' voices into decision-making processes is becoming increasingly important for policymakers to solve questions at stake: How can we adapt our national policies to climate change? How can we ensure a good quality of life and economic well-being across the country? Political leaders, government officials, but also Civil Society representatives are increasingly interested in piloting new forms of citizen participation – for example through a Citizen Assembly – especially when it comes to controversial or complex questions. While there is a high level of agreement that the engagement of citizens is important for successful policymaking also at the national level, there is often a lack of practical knowledge and skills on how to initiate and organise such a process for a whole country.

Who needs to be involved? Where to start? How to make sure the assembly can achieve some impact?

When and where?

An Online Introductory meeting will take place on the 14th March 2025 at 14:00 (CET). The In-presence workshop will take place from 25th March, 9:30h until 26th March, 16:00h (CET) at the Palace of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

Who can participate?

Representatives from public institutions and CSOs from Council of Europe member States, who are interested to organise a Citizen Assembly in their country. (Max 26-28 participants)

Please note that the working language of the workshop will be English.

What can be expected from the Competence Building Programme?

Participants will learn about the relationship between citizen participation, deliberative democracy, and electoral democracy. They will get to know quality criteria for citizen participation through a Citizen Assembly. They will be introduced to preconditions and main questions to be clarified when planning a Citizen Assembly at the national level. They will get to know best practices of Citizen Assemblies which have been applied in different policy fields. They will develop an idea of how to integrate them into their respective work environment practically.

Who are your lecturers?

The training will be facilitated by FIDE - Europe, which is an umbrella organisation for expertise on deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies. We will also invite a number of external speakers that have been actively involved in some of the leading examples of processes at the national level in Europe.

What about logistics and costs?

The costs for travel and accommodation will be covered by the Council of Europe according to the rules and regulations of the Council of Europe.

How to apply?

Interested persons are invited to apply for the training here. The deadline to submit the application is 7th February 2025. Selected applicants will be notified by 21st February 2025. 

If interested, please apply by filling in the application form.

Criteria for the selection of participants

Participants will be selected based on the following criteria:

• Gender balance and geographical distribution
• Short description of their interest/motivation and an initial idea for a concrete use case related to a specific policy field in their country.
• Max 26-28 participants.