Starting today, 100 randomly selected citizens from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Lithuania will spend three days discussing Europe's democratic, digital and green future. In cooperation with the European Commission, we developed a novel approach: transnational, digital, with simultaneous interpretation for all participants. The results will be presented by the citizens on Friday in a live broadcast with Commission Vice-President Margrethe Vestager and Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius.
The EU wants to dare more democracy and participation. But how do you bring citizens from different countries together, how do you manage a digital dialogue during a pandemic and how can people with different biographies be involved in their own mother tongue?
In the past weeks, 100 citizens from Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Lithuania were randomly selected to take part in this pilot project. They represent the diversity of their societies. From Tuesday 27 October to Friday 30 October, they will come together in a digital space to discuss and develop ideas for a democratic, digital and green Europe. They will be supported by moderators and thematic experts.
In cooperation with the European Commission, several innovations will be tested: The entire dialogue is on ZOOM, the participants work in plenary sessions, in thematic groups and in smaller sessions. There are at least three languages in all 13 groups, each simultaneously translated. The final discussion with Margrethe Vestager and Virginijus Sinkevičius will be broadcast live on the central account of the European Commission. Viewers can join the debate via live chat on Friday
30 October from 15:20 to 16:00. The European Commission will broadcast the debate live on Twitter (https://twitter.com/EU_Commission) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanCommission).
The project "Democracy and Participation in Europe" develops new participatory formats, which are effective and directly linked to EU institutions. For the European Commission, the innovative approach of the Citizens' Dialogue is particularly interesting in view of the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe, which will involve people from all EU Member States in a new way.
