Introduction
The EuComMeet project explores ways of systematically embedding deliberative practices and institutions within the European Union’s multi-level system of governance and representation. It also investigates how deliberation and participation can help reduce polarisation, strengthen European identity, encourage inclusiveness, foster citizens’ reflectivity, and narrow the representative gap between policymakers and citizens.
To address these goals, EuComMeet brought together a nine-partner consortium composed of leading academic experts, organisations with vast experience in deliberative and participatory practices in Europe, and the methodological expertise of third parties. This consortium, along with a wide range of societal actors and stakeholders, aims to develop viable solutions to improve democratic practices through a proactive research strategy.
To contribute to the democracy research area, EuComMeet designed novel participatory spaces that include citizens, policymakers, and stakeholders during the project’s runtime. These participatory spaces are based on an innovative M4D2 (Multi-stage, multi-level, multi-mode, multilingual, dynamic, and deliberative) approach conceived as a flexible, interactive, easy-to-use, and scalable up model for deliberative processes, integrated with innovative technology for automated moderation and translation in multiple languages, to be implemented in five countries (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland).
In 2023, participants from these countries discussed issues related to the environment and climate change. Initially, discussions took place at a local level among citizens of the same city. Then, they progressed to a national level, involving citizens from different cities in the same country, and finally, they included citizens from other European countries.
This report addresses three main dimensions of the project: the challenges of inclusion in present democracies, the impact of deliberation on attitudes towards environmental issues, and the role of open platforms in deliberative democracy.
The report is available at the following link:
“Just transition and participatory democracy – Lesson learned from H2020 EuComMeet project“