BRUSSELS, 28 November: Twelve like-minded European and global organisations committed to advancing democratic innovation and participation are coming together in a new project, Nets4Dem. This unprecedented initiative aims to build the infrastructure needed to strengthen democracy across Europe based on local, national and European-wide networks.
Nets4Dem will establish a European network of academics, practitioners and civil society, creating a hub for advanced research and collaboration in the field of democratic innovation, civic deliberation, participation and citizenship education.
The founding member organisations bring together more than 200 cities, over 50 think tanks and universities, and dozens of democracy-focused NGOs, covering 38 European countries, and linking to democracy-focused work in 130 countries worldwide.
By creating Nets4Dem, the participating members are responding to increased citizens’ demands for more deliberative and equitable participation in the democratic process. As a result, this new initiative aims to foster more inclusive, effective and participatory democracies, thereby rebuilding citizens’ trust in institutions.
Nets4Dem is well-suited for such a challenge, given the wide range of experience and expertise from its global experts and Europe-spanning civic networks. This joint endeavour will strengthen democracy by connecting scattered knowledge, making it easily accessible, and giving policymakers and practitioners the skills and capacity to work better with citizens.
The network will open for new members in the new year. By harnessing the extensive and collective reach of its participating members, Nets4Dem will foster deeper and more effective collaborations between existing actors in the democratic space.
Nets4Dem founding participants are:
- Centro de Estudos Sociais (CES)
- Coglobal
- Democracy Reporting International (DRI)
- Democratic Society (DemSoc)
- Demos Helsinki
- Egmont Institute – Royal Institute for International Relations (Egmont)
- Eurocities
- European Partnership for Democracy (EPD)
- Institut za filozofiju i društvenu teoriju, Univerzitet u Beogradu (IFDT)
- Open-Source Politics (OSP)
- People Powered
- Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA)
Nets4Dem’s reach will extend 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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Press inquiries to: hugh.evans@tepsa.eu
