From the European Green Deal to municipal master plans, the significance and priority of climate policies are increasing across all levels of government.

The sense of urgency and complexity means that the challenge of climate policy is often portrayed as belonging to the technical domain. However, climate solutions entail diverse sets of consequences in the social and political arenas.

The legitimacy of these strategic and long-lasting decisions requires greater societal deliberation. In this context, Federation for Innovation in Democracy – Europe (FIDE) in partnership with the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA) are organizing a two-day Spring School on Climate Citizens’ Assemblies (CCA) to strengthen the capacities of institutions and organizations to run these deliberative processes.

The Spring School will take place from April 27th to 28th in Milan, hosted by the Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli. It will bring together those in positions to advocate, design or implement a CCA.

These are politicians, civil servants and civil society actors looking to set up or engage in a specific process or project. Furthermore, Prossima Democrazia will bring the expertise necessary to understand the Italian context.

Altogether, the event will boost ongoing projects and encourage the creation of new ones, in Italy and throughout the continent. Starting with an introductory session bringing all participants up to speed on the emergence of CCAs, sessions will dive into the details of the design process: How do you frame your question? What governance structures should you consider to ensure a robust process? How to ensure the integration of the assembly into ongoing policy processes? How to select and present complex evidence to participants?

These are just some of the ingredients of the programme, spiced up with breakout workshops and moments to reflect collectively on the information presented.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

• Lise Deshautel, Co-founder of KNOCA – advisor to French Climate Convention.
• Mark Beanland, Danish Board of Technology / KNOCA – lead facilitator Aarhus Assembly.
• Peter Bryant, Shared Future – organizer of a number of assemblies and juries in UK.
• Simone Zippel, Erlangen – civil servant responsible for Erlangen Climate Assembly.
• Graham Smith, Chair of KNOCA · Eva Bordos, DemNet – organizer of Budapest Climate Assembly.
• Katie Reid, terres des hommes – Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity and Scotland’s Climate Assembly.
• Yves Dejaeghere, Executive Director, FIDE

WORKSHOPS

• Children and young people: they certainly have a moral entitlement regarding climate issues. How can we get them engaged in the process?
• Engaging stakeholders: they are, in the end, a crucial part of implementing the recommendations but how can they be integrated?
• Communication: clear and honest communication is crucial to help the general audience understand the principles behind the process and ensure political commitments.
• Citizens’ juries as an alternative: what other formats of deliberative processes exist, and what are their use cases?
• Italian Policy and legal aspects of citizens’ assemblies.

Partners: