The Council of Europe Youth Department and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities are organising – in partnership with DemNet Foundation – a public panel discussion and a two-day workshop on deliberative democracy and citizens’ assemblies.

The event is the next activity in the programme "Strengthening Democratic Resilience through Youth Engagement and Deliberative Democracy", which was launched at an international roundtable at the European Youth Centre Budapest in September 2025 and has continued with an online webinar in May 2026. The programme aims to build awareness and practical capacity for deliberative democracy — in particular, youth citizens' assemblies — across Council of Europe member states.

It draws on a robust normative framework: the Committee of Ministers' Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)6 on deliberative democracy, the Congress'Recommendation 472 (2022) "Beyond Elections: The Use of Deliberative Methods in European Municipalities and Regions", and the new European Charter on the Participation of Young People in Local and Regional Life (2025), which calls explicitly on local and regional authorities to devise democratic processes for the consultation and engagement of young people, including youth assemblies and other practices of deliberative democracy.

The workshop is designed as a hands-on, practical learning experience. Participants will leave with a solid understanding of how citizens' assemblies work, what it takes to plan and run one, and how to build the political and institutional support needed to make it happen — with a specific focus on the local and regional level.

 The workshop is specifically designed for: 

• Young activists and civil society representatives engaged in democratic participation, youth organisations, or civic advocacy
• Representatives of local and regional authorities with responsibility for citizen engagement, youth policy, or democratic innovation
• Staff of youth centres, civil society organisations, or schools on political education with an interest in participatory methods
• Individuals with a concrete idea or project underway for a citizens' assembly or deliberative process in their municipality, region, or
• organisation