Nets4Dem – the Network of Networks for Democracy – launched in 2023, when twelve like-minded European and global organisations came together to build a European network of academics, practitioners and civil society. It became a hub for research and collaboration on democratic innovation, civic deliberation, participation and citizenship education.

Three years on, Nets4Dem has entered its second phase. With continued EU funding, the network has grown to more than 81 members across 38 European countries, reaching over 200 cities, 75 national governments, 50 universities and think tanks, and 400 civil society organisations. This new chapter brings a more agile governance model and new institutional partners, and gives members a greater role in shaping priorities and guiding the network’s longer-term development.

Nets4Dem works towards four objectives:

• Create, foster and sustain a strong network of policymakers, practitioners and researchers.
• Systematise and connect fragmented knowledge on democratic innovation.
• Make democratic research and innovation systematically accessible to EU policymakers and other stakeholders.
• Raise the ambition of policymaking through recommendations that strengthen and reimagine democracy.

The will to involve citizens in policymaking is growing across governments in Europe, although many still lack the tools, evidence and peer networks to act on it. Nets4Dem’s second phase is built to close that gap by providing the infrastructure institutions need to turn this will into practice.

Nets4Dem’s reach extends across Europe and Horizon Associated Countries (see them here). The initiative is funded by the European Union through its Horizon Europe programme, and is coordinated by Democracy Reporting International.

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