Oscar Barberà atended several conferences and networking events
The Citizen Participation and Deliberative Democracy Festival was held in Brussels, on 12-14 June 2024. The main part of the programme took place in the CDMA building (21 Rue du Champ De Mars, 1050 Ixelles, Brussels), with side events across the city. The Festival brought together people who are interested in the engagement of citizens through deliberative and other participatory formats in science and policymaking, with participants from the EU and national public institutions, politicians, representatives of civil society organisations, researchers, practitioners, artists and ordinary citizens.
The theme for the 5th Festival was the engagement of citizens in addressing environmental issues. This included, transversal concerns related to climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, environmental health, land use, oceans , as well as regional and local issues such as climate-neutrality of cities and energy transition. The aim was to bring research, practitioner and policymaker communities together to discuss these initiatives and reflect on how to use these tools to help strengthen our democracies and give citizens a meaningful say in policies that concern them. The theme also engaged directly with the European Green Deal, one of Commission’s priorities, with its goals of climate neutrality by 2050 and those set in the biodiversity strategy for 2030. To make the green transition just, fit-for-purpose and sustainable in the long term.
The programme featured a variety of activities, including expert panels, conversations, workshops, artwork presentations, exhibitions of participatory projects and hands-on presentations of methods and tools. The event aimed to shed light on the opportunities and challenges that the engagement of citizens in science and policymaking is facing.
Organised by European Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (CC-DEMOS), the Festival is the main networking event of its Community of Practice.
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