This post is co-authored by Chris Riedy and Nivek Thompson.
How we developed the Leading Deliberative Democracy course
At the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF), our mission is to create change towards sustainable futures. One of the most obvious ways to create change is by improving the way that decisions are made – improving the quality of our democracy. Deliberative democracy is one approach to improving the quality of democracy that ISF has supported for many years. It involves ordinary citizens, often randomly selected to participate, in important public policy decisions. Participants have the opportunity to learn about the topic, engage in dialogue with experts and each other, and form a considered view on the best outcome. In our experience, citizens involved in deliberative democratic processes make decisions that are more consistent with sustainable futures and the public good than normal political decisions.
So when newDemocracy Foundation approached us about developing a course to introduce deliberative democracy to political and organisational leaders, we were delighted to take on the challenge. newDemocracy Foundation is Australia’s premier advocate for deliberative democracy and an excellent partner in the development of the course. During the course development, ISF’s deliberative democracy experts tested the course content and structure with the researchers and practitioners at nDF to make sure it would work for the leaders they engage with.
What’s in the course
The Leading Deliberative Democracy course aims to provide an overview of the theory and practice of deliberative democracy, in particular the use of deliberative mini-publics. The course includes presentations from academics, practitioners, elected representatives and facilitators of deliberative processes to demonstrate the value of basing practice on.
Who can benefit from the course
This course is designed for elected representatives, senior decision-makers and leaders within organisations. It’s aimed at people who might have heard of deliberative democracy but aren’t sure if it’s something they want to advocate for. The course gives enough of a background in deliberative democracy so that leaders can judge whether it is a good idea for them. It also gives them sufficient grounding in the principles and practices of deliberative democracy so that they know what to look for when they’re recruiting someone to design or facilitate such a process.
Our learning and teaching approach
Both the Leading and the Doing Deliberative Democracy courses use a deliberative approach to pedagogy. The aim is to expose participants to some of the key elements of a deliberative process as they move through the course modules.
The course combines a combination of learning via presentations from experts with interactive tools, such as discussions and padlets to encourage them to think about what they have learnt and apply it to their own situations. We also hold a webinar with experts from around the world who have direct experience with running deliberative mini-publics.
The course looks at the theory of deliberative democracy, how deliberative engagement differs from traditional community engagement and reflecting on participants’ current approach to community engagement. From there we look in more depth at the key elements and phases of deliberation processes and how these are put together to design a real-world deliberative process. Finally, we share case studies of good practice and innovation from Australia and around the world to demonstrate the versatility of deliberation in sharing decision-making with citizens.
Deliberative democracy: an international movement
Governments around the world are using deliberative processes to better understand what citizens think and want in regards to achieving sustainability. The French and UK governments have conducted national Climate Assemblies to get citizens directions on how to achieve net zero and many local governments, who have declared climate emergencies have run local citizens’ juries to ensure their strategies align with citizen expectations. Experience suggests that politicians are often surprised at how supportive of sustainability and concrete actions to achieve change their constituents are.
How to register for Leading Deliberative Democracy
If you’re interested in ISF’s Deliberative Democracy courses, or any of the other courses we offer, you can find registration and other details here.
Feature image by Greg Rosenke.