Ten democratic ways to crisis resilience
On 25 May 2025, a European Citizens‘ Assembly adopted a Citizens’ Agenda. It contains ‘Ten democratic ways to Crisis Resilience'. The Charter is now live and open for public discussion.
The resolution of the mini-public organised under the umbrella of the ‘Democratic Odyssey’ initiative states: "Our world is changing dramatically! We see profound transformations in our planetary climate, our geopolitics, financial systems, as well as our societies, technologies, cultures.
It is not hard to imagine more future crises, from natural disasters to pandemics, to the crises that will define our collective destiny, climate meltdown, the dismantling of the welfare state, rampant corruption, the disruption of social ties, booming precarity, discrimination and inequality. Europeans are confronting the spectre of war.
"We can do better"
The Assembly members of the Democratic Odyssey believe that Europeans have learned a lot through crises, but that we can do better. We call European publics, politicians, civil servants and institutions to take a leap of faith with us.
We must, we can, better navigate through these turbulent times. We must do so democratically. Together, authorities and citizens must envision the crises of the future, avoid them where possible and address them where necessary. The key: prepare, prepare, prepare. Together we must learn from them, learn from our mistakes and success. Use our collective intelligence to consider what is to be done now to tackle future crises.
Who has the power?
Let’s always ask not only who already has the power but who should have it. Meaningful action is also in the hands of societies. Whether they act in times of emergency or in normal times, it is in the interest of elected officials to tap into peoples’ real-life experiences, often the best expertise around. But smart action and decisions depend on widely accessible democratic competence.
The Democratic Odyssey, a randomly selected people’s assembly of 300 people from across Europe and from every walk of life and background, have come together for a year to design changes to our democratic landscape that stem from the conviction that citizens need to be involved in the making of the decisions that impact their lives. In our understanding, everyone living in Europe is a citizen and has political agency and responsibility for our collective future.
Travelling from Athens to Florence and Vienna, we engaged in deliberation, story-telling, immersive theater or future envisioning, to generate ideas on what needs to change in Europe to democratise our futures.
Reimagine democratic participation beyond elections
Can the democratic ideal be reborn? We invite all citizens to reimagine democratic participation beyond elections as translocal, multi-generational, grounded in care for common goods and in symbiosis with non-human life, embedded in every aspect of our lives, from the family to the school, workplace and public services, as well as every level of government. If this were to happen, people would engineer their own democratic resilience before, during and after a crisis, and learn in the process to rely together on democratic foresight.
Our Charter lays out ten pathways to navigate towards this horizon. It acknowledges that crises can affect everyone, anywhere but in different ways. Nevertheless, broad principles can be shared to create a more participatory democratic world across our continent and beyond.
Ten Democratic Pathways towards Crisis Resilience
1. 'Being involved is also our responsibility as citizens!'
2. “Our Money, our Choice!”
3. 'Nothing About Us Without Us'
4. 'Educate to Anticipate'
5. Collectivity and self-organization are our power
6. ‘If People move, democracy must follow’
7. ‘Transparency is non-negotiable’
8. 'Care is at the heart of democracy’
9. 'Harness Technology, unleash collective intelligence'
10. 'Not everything has been invented yet'
A Citizens’ Council of the Democratic Odyssey (composed of Assembly Members) will ensure appropriate follow-up to the recommendations contained in the Charter.
Assembly started in September 2024
From 27 to 29 September 2024, the first meeting of a pilot transnational peoples’ assembly for Europe took place in Athens as part of the civil society project “Democratic Odyssey”. This was followed by meetings in Florence and Vienna.
The Democratic Odyssey is campaigning for a 'Permanent Peoples’ Assembly for Europe'. A broad alliance supports the initiative. 'The endeavour is inspired by tentative efforts of past EU legislatures to institutionalise citizen participation. Our goal is to push them to go further,' says the Odyssey project's website.
Mini-public met in various cities
Like the ancient Greek hero Odysseus, the pilot Citizens' Assembly was embarking on a journey. Instead of meeting in Brussels, the mini-public met in various European cities, both in face-to-face meetings and online. 'The assembly will thus connect different cities as city envoys and transnational citizens bridge its different meetings, and it will plant the seed for further citizens' engagement in each port', was the slogan at the start of this sortition project.
The participants in the Citizens' Assembly came from all over Europe. They were selected at random. They deliberated in several languages and contributed to the future agenda of the EU. The pilot Peoples' Assembly started with 200 participants and continued to grow as it expanded to other cities. Participants included citizens from most EU countries and some accession countries, as well as randomly selected citizens from Athens and other cities. Members of civil society organisations were also involved.
Citizens' agenda for the EU
The Peoples‘ Assembly concluded with a 'Citizens' Agenda for the Future of the EU’. In the end 'the medium is the message': the organisers want to explore the next frontiers of citizen engagement - from tech-enhancement to immersive debating techniques and democratising foresight. The process is described as 'radically open and inclusive'. 'As a pilot assembly, the name of the game here is experimentation and imperfection'.
The European Union already uses citizens' assemblies as a participation instrument. However, these are not a permanent body, but are convened as required. Previous mini-publics have focussed on food waste, virtual worlds, learning mobility, energy efficiency, hatred in society and the European Union's next long-term budget.
Model for a permanent citizens' assembly
The Bertelsmann Foundation had already presented a model for a permanent citizens' assembly in a report in 2022. The proposal is based on the model of the permanent citizens' dialogue in East Belgium. According to this model, the EU Citizens' Assemblies should meet annually. The assemblies would consist of 204 members from all EU member states, who would develop their recommendations in five to eight meetings. Suggestions for topics could come from the EU institutions or from the general public.