Today’s democracy requires institutions able to cultivate the conditions in which democratic innovation can take root, stressed the participants of the conference “Resilient Europe through deliberative democracy: cities and regions in action!”, organised by the Council of Europe Congress in Strasbourg.
The event on 25-27 November brought together 130 representatives of local, regional and national authorities, academia and civil society from 22 Council of Europe member countries.
Following presentations of good practices in Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lithuania and Spain, participants exchanged views on how deliberative approaches can help foster democratic resilience, notably by promoting mutual respect and constructive dialogue. Deliberative democracy, by design, encourages listening and shared understanding, offering a pathway to counter polarisation and rebuild trust in public institutions.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s contribution was particularly highlighted at the conference. Deputy Sarajevo Mayor Mirela Džehverović and President of the Mostar City Council Đani Rahimić joined panel discussions on the pressures facing democracies today, the role of deliberative approaches in addressing them, and emerging trends in public deliberation. In parallel, ten new experts in deliberative democracy from Bosnia and Herzegovina officially completed their training on deliberative democracy, which further strengthens local capacities to design and run citizens’ assemblies across the country.
The participants highlighted the need to build civic infrastructure for citizens’ deliberation that includes skills development, provision of regional and countrywide deliberative services, dedicated funds and access to knowledge resources to support and organise deliberation in a more systemic way, connecting experts and platforms for mutual learning. They also underlined the importance of creating platforms for peer learning to support public authorities wishing to implement deliberative practices. Participants noted the emerging need for possible labelling of deliberative processes, in line with Council of Europe standards, to ensure that such initiatives are meaningful, inclusive and effective.
The Congress will pursue its efforts to promote deliberative approaches, helping communities build trust, enhance participation and strengthen resilience in the face of democratic backsliding.
This Congress event took place as part of the New Democratic Pact for Europe, which is the collective response of the Council of Europe and European countries to the difficulties that democracy is facing, in which Europe will move towards reinforcing our democratic security through its three pillars: education, protection of democracy, and innovating for democracy.
The participation of the BiH delegation was facilitated as part of the project “Strengthening democratic innovations and promoting human rights at local level in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, implemented by the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2022-2025.
New Democratic Pact for Europe
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