Citizens’ Assemblies: How can they foster democratic participation?

In this call, we will discuss concrete examples of national Citizens' Assemblies in Switzerland and explore their capacity to enhance democratic participation. Citizens' Assemblies are participatory formats where participants are randomly drawn from the general population, aiming to create an inclusive and representative sample of the population. These assemblies serve as platforms for collectively identifying and developing solutions to complex issues, fostering broader civic engagement and producing socially supported solutions. You will be invited to propose specific topics of interest during the discussions and have the opportunity to learn from our guest's experiences with Citizens' Assemblies.

Jany Barraut and Sarah Friederich, who have been part of the process design and facilitation teams of the Citizens' Assembly on Food Policy and the Future Council U24 on Mental Health, are going to share about their experiences, answer questions and explore topics you might want to discuss further.

Facilitators:
The call will be hosted by Diana Oser, collaboratio helvetica's community & partnership coordinator, and our two guests and independent facilitators, Jany Barraut and Sarah Friederich.

Jany Barraut is an experienced facilitator and practitioner well versed in participatory processes and approaches in complex and multicultural environments. 

Sarah Friederich is an experienced facilitator specialized in designing and facilitating participatory group processes and dialogue formats.

Who can join the call?
Anyone interested in learning more about the topic and getting to know Collaboratio Helvetica is warmly welcome to join the call, so don't hesitate to invite your friends and whomever you feel would benefit from this call.

When: May, 06, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. CEST

Fee: Free of charge

Language: English

Where: The call will take place online on Zoom. Please register in advance to receive the link, as it will be sent to you by e-mail one day before the call.