Robin Hanse is a Belgian sciences teacher. He obtained a master's degree in organismal biology and ecology with teaching focus in 2014, and immediately started teaching while following the of Teach for Belgium programme.
He has been active in various organisations, mostly in governance related roles. Alongside members from other organisations (such as RAMUR, the JOC, Periferia, Canopea, the Gilets Jaunes, …) he founded CaP Democratie in October 2021 in order to push the participative democracy agenda and allow citizens to take back political initiatives rather than remaining assigned to a reactive role.
He firmly believes that the current electoral system cannot address long-term issues properly and infantilizes electors. He also considers that our societies lack spaces where people meet to understand each other and build a shared society project, a trend dangerously reinforced by social networks, which lock people into their social bubbles, and political parties that transform deliberative spaces into theatrical arenas. The impressive results of diverse deliberative experiences (G1000 and the Permanent Citizens’ Dialogue in East-Belgium, Citizens Convention for Climate in France, Citizens’ Assemblies in Ireland, …) further convince him that they pave the way to more democratic policy making.