A historic milestone for deliberative democracy: Ukraine’s first-ever Citizens’ Assembly successfully launched

The first weekend of the first Citizens’ Assembly of Ukraine, supported by the Council of Europe, ended successfully on October 6 in Zvyahel. This historic event, the first ever citizens’ assembly held under wartime conditions, marks an important milestone in the advancement of deliberative democracy in Ukraine.

The deliberative process is organized by the Zvyahel City Council with expert, methodological and financial support from the Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine “.

The Zvyahel Citizens’ Assembly, focused on “Creating urban spaces as public places for social interaction and recovery” will continue for two additional weekends, October 19 and 20 and November 2 and 3, 2024. Over the course of three sessions, the members of the assembly – 45 randomly selected citizens from different sectors of society – will develop recommendations for public authorities on how to approach this very relevant subject. As part of the launch, municipal authorities publicly expressed their commitment to taking into account the results and recommendations of the citizens’ assembly in their future planning. Zvyahel Mayor Mykola Borovets welcomed the participants, emphasizing that they embody what it means to be active and engaged citizens.

The first weekend of the Citizens’ Assembly was filled with expert presentations and dynamic discussions on the topic at hand. Following group discussions and deliberations, Assembly members voted to prioritize some key themes to focus on in the recommendations, including the involvement of young people in the creation and development of public spaces in rural areas and the creation of spaces for psychological recovery and mental health support.

The Citizens’ Assembly methodology is a pioneering tool for Ukraine, and Zvyahel’s experience will serve as a model for the future implementation of similar deliberative processes in Ukraine, to ensure that authorities listen to voices and recommendations from citizens. Participants and facilitators agreed: “Today we prove that even martial law cannot hinder this progress. »

The process of organizing the Citizens’ Assembly in Zviahel began in March 2024 with the conference “Visionary ways of involving citizens: the future of deliberative democracy in Ukraine” and was carried out jointly with the Slavutych community . Planning, preparation and execution fully respect Recommendation CM/Rec(2023)6 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on deliberative democracy, as well as international standards for participatory democracy.

Following the methodology developed in collaboration with international experts, 4,000 invitation letters were sent to randomly selected households and sorting was carried out to reflect as closely as possible the population of the community aged over 18, in terms of age group, gender, education level and district. The random selection of 45 members, including 2 internally displaced persons, and 12 alternate members was carried out using open source software. In order to guarantee access to the process also for members of the diaspora, the municipality’s website has provided a platform where any resident can submit their suggestions and opinions on the subject.

At the end of the first weekend of the Citizens’ Assembly, participants explained why they were eager to continue working in future sessions: “These two days of collaboration made me realize that I am not just doing something important for the community or supporting the authorities. I do this for my family, for my grandchildren. One day they will visit a beautiful park or playground in Zvyahel and say: “Grandma, look at this amazing place! And I will tell them with pride that I was part of the team that made this possible.

Learn more about A historic milestone for deliberative democracy: Ukraine’s first-ever Citizens’ Assembly successfully launched – Council of Europe Office in Ukraine (coe.int)