Democratic Odyssey

How can democracies deliver faster, fairer, and more decisive action on issues of planetary importance, from climate, energy, and migration policy to the regulation of weapons, chemicals, food, digital spaces, and emerging technologies?The answer is not authoritarianism nor populism, but a new transformative, trans-local democracy—a democracy with foresight.

The Democratic Odyssey is a joint effort built on the belief that transnational citizens’ assemblies (or people’s assemblies) can deliver the cooperation and coordination necessary to respond to the most urgent challenges of our time, all while renewing democracy. With the European Union serving as a planetary lab, the collaborative campaign endeavors to institutionalize a standing EU-wide citizens’ assembly and nourish a vibrant participatory ecosystem throughout all levels of governance.

The Democratic Odyssey sets out to achieve this through the following workstreams:

1. A blueprint for such a Standing People’s Assembly for Europe composed of randomly selected citizens on a rotating basis, traveling to meet around Europe. This will exemplify the deliberative and participatory ecosystem we would like to see in the EU and the rest of the world.

2. A Pilot Assembly to be held in September 2024 that serves as a ‘proof of concept’ for the Odyssey.

3. A Theory of Change that explores how citizens’ engagement can be enmeshed in both top-down and bottom-up processes.

4. A Constituent Network of organizations and individuals that form the supporting foundation for the Assembly.

5. A Modular Framework that outlines how the permanent Assembly will be designed, executed, and evaluated.

6. A Crowd-Sourced Collaborative Campaign that promotes this vision before and after Europe’s 2024 elections.

Decentralization and collaboration are two of the Odyssey’s core values. As such, the EUI-led initiative aims to bring together a wide range of partners. The Berggruen Institute is one member of a growing consortium of partners, including Particip-Action, articipaction, European Alternatives, Citizens Take Over Europe, Mission Publiques, The Deomcracy and Culture Foundation, Mehr Demokratie, DemNext, Berggruen Institute, PHOENIX, Eliamep, Real Deal, European Democracy Hub, Democracy International, WEMOVE Europe, Europe Calling, CEPS, ASHOKA, Seesox, The Good Lobby, Democracy R&D, Democratic Society, The Salvia Foundation, ifok, ECI Campaign, Centre for the Politics of Feelings, Nets4Dem, GloCAN.

Learn more about the Democratic Odyssey and how you can get involved on their website.