Training for local, regional and national public administrations and future trainers

The European Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (CC-DEMOS) has invested in building a new training offer on citizen engagement processes based on co-creation and deliberation. CC-DEMOS has partnered with Democracy X and ifok to develop a training package for public administrations at local, regional and national level across Europe as well as future trainers.

This training offer aims to sustain the first Commission’s priority on a Free and Democratic Europe and the focus on developing a European Democracy Shield to protect European democracies and beyond. Late 2023, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation to Member States on Civic engagement in policymaking under the Defence of Democracy Package. This Recommendation is the EU legal basis that sustains the construction of a deliberative democracy infrastructure across EU Member States.

The training also reflects the ambition and the vision for innovative policymaking as enshrined in the Commission's Competences Framework for Policymaking, which includes the engagement of citizens as one of the seven core clusters of competences that future policymakers should acquire.

A training tailored to three levels of competence

The training was developed between December 2022 to June 2024 in order to address three levels of competence and skills in citizen participation: basic, advanced and train-the-trainers.

Across the three levels, the training package encompasses a number of learning outcomes and topics to support a tailored training offer to public administrations. The basic level is offered as a single course, whereas the advanced and the train-the-trainer levels are organised into ten modules. The training features interactive learning based on case studies and practical exercises.

From stepping into the field and participating to an informed discussion, to lead a participatory plan and use outcomes systematically, the training will enable a progressive deepening of the methods and tools for designing, implementing and following up on citizen participation. Below is the modular structure of the advanced and train-the-trainer levels, composed of ten modules.

First edition of the training

The first edition of the training will cover the three levels of competence and will run from March until July on the EU Academy platform. It will be offered in English.

The training consists of self-paced learning material and activities (both synchronous and asynchronous) moderated by citizen engagement experts and practitioners from Democracy X, Missions Publiques and Fundacja Pole Dialogu.

Participants will have access to a digital course-book, knowledge inputs and self-assessment exercises. To foster a community of learners, Interactive sessions are offered via asynchronous activities (forum of discussions and group activities) and synchronous activities (live sessions). For the training of trainers, participants will also receive a set of training material for organising and delivering future trainings.

Participants will receive a certificate of completion of their courses and modules upon completing a minimum number of modules, selected asynchronous activities and upon submitting an evaluation form.

Course planning

The three training courses involve an average number of training hours and will follow a specific time frame, as illustrated below:

Who can apply

Applicants to the basic and advanced training courses must be public officials, civil servants and other government professionals working in local, regional and national public administrations based in EU member states, EU candidate countries and EFTA states. Applicants to the training of trainers can be public officials, civil servants and other government professionals working in local, regional and national public administrations or experts and practitioners of citizen participation in Europe.

Applicants are required to have a good written and oral level of English.

Important dates

Registration for the basic course is now closed. There will be a second edition of the training from September to December 2025, so stay tuned!

Registration for the other two course levels is still open and will close at different times:

• Registration for the advanced course will close on Monday 7 April 2025.
• Registration for the training of trainers will close Monday 28 April 2025.

Future participants who wish to register to more than one training course should indicate in the registration form their preference for one of them.

Applications for each course will be reviewed by the CC-DEMOS Team to accommodate as many applicants as possible pending conformity of the applicant’s professional field and available places.

Register here