Citizens are increasingly demanding to be actively involved in decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities. However, there are systemic barriers preventing them from participating. Capitalizing on the momentum generated by the Conferenceon the Future of Europe, the first transnational experiment of deliberative democracy, Ashoka launched its Changemaker Europe initiative to shape a new vision of democracy and civic participation where every person can actively contribute to positive social change.

Within the framework of this initiative, Ashoka has designed, together with The Good Lobby, an innovative collaborative process to advance participatory democracy in the EU.

This report produced by Ashoka is the outcome of a series of informal “Ideas Lab” sessions that brought together siloed stakeholders around one table and create room for imagination about what ideal democratic practices might look like, and how we might achieve them. The process involved a group of 22 changemakers in the field of participatory democracy who embarked on a collective thinking journey from March to June 2023. The main aims were to:

• identify and assess the root causes behind the lack of participatory democracy in Europe; 
• tackle the systemic barriers that hinder the participation of citizens in political decision-making; 
• co-design solutions to create an enabling ecosystem that gives individuals and communities a voice, and empowers them to shape the systems to better serve their needs.