Citizens’ Assemblies: A Tool for Democracy

On May 19^th and 20^th, EFA held an interactive workshop giving participants insight into the process of creating a Citizens’ Assembly as a tool to bring democracy closer to people, and a way to shape policy. 

The workshop was facilitated by Katie Gallogy-Swan, a Scottish political economist and prize-winning researcher. She has worked in Scottish politics for democratic transformation at organisations such as Common Weal and the Electoral Reform Society. More recently, she has worked for Oxfam and ActionAid on issues including building democratic cultures and climate change. 

In two sessions, participants gained insight into how CAs work and the planning process of a successful CA.

This was not only useful and practical for our members in their own work and campaigns, but throughout the workshop participants collectively contributed to shaping EFA’s future work on Citizens’ Assemblies. This is a vital part of our upcoming work on the EU Conference on the Future of Europe in 2021.

Our report, written by Katie Gallogy-Swan, is now available here.