Network of Networks 4 Democracy

Nets4Dem puts forward a Network of Networks approach to establish and develop a European network of practitioners and researchers in the field of democracy, civic deliberation, participation and citizenship education. The unique approach that Nets4Dem puts forward is to ‘weave’ more and better connections between existing actors and networks already active in the wider democracy field, taking advantage of each other’s strengths and reducing duplication.

The Consortium, brings together widely networked organisations with long-term expertise in democratic innovation across a broad range of areas (including digital democracy, rule of law, climate change, also through cultural and creative approach). Project team is composed of ten teams coming from Germany, Finland, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, France, United States of America and Serbia.

Nets4Dem will focus its efforts on four main objectives:

(1) creating, fostering and sustaining stronger Network of policy makers, practitioners and researchers;

(2) systematizing and connecting the fragmented knowledge on democratic innovation and governance research;

(3) establishing a coordinated European approach to promote systematic accessibility of democratic innovation;

(4) raising the ambition of policy making through policy recommendations to strengthen democracy at all levels of governance.

Nets4Dem will seek to address the identified challenges, including the need for better collaboration and networking in the democratic field, the need to connect existing knowledge on democracy and governance and make it more accessible, so that policymakers and practitioners are better equipped to the address complex challenges they are facing for inclusive societies and more resilient democracy.

To address these and potential new challenges, substantial efforts are required from researchers, practitioners, policy makers and citizens. One of the most impactful ways to support this work is by connecting the efforts of all those who are pursuing the same goal. The Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory will lead the Working Package 3  “Connecting scattered knowledge on democratic innovations” and contribute to the work of other Work Packages.

Work plan and Work Packages

The research work is organized into nine work packages (WPs):

WP 1& 2: Project Management & Coordination

WP1 and WP2 are focused on the overall management of the project with the aim to ensure that goals and results are achieved as planned. Activities therefore include coordination of administrative, financial and technical work, ensuring a smooth flow of information between partners, as well as with the European Commission, monitoring and reporting on project progress and strategic direction of work, and data management and respect for the principles of responsible research and innovation.

WP 3: Connecting Scattered Knowledge on Democratic Innovations

The focus of WP3 is on connecting the currently fragmented knowledge about inclusive democratic innovations, through:

– systematization and analysis of existing knowledge about democracy developed through projects financed by the EU (Horizons and former FP), as well as within European civil society (by civil society organizations, think tanks, etc.),

– providing systematized resources that will make relevant academic knowledge accessible to non-academic actors (e.g., local, national, and EU policymakers, practitioners, and citizens), and

– producing new knowledge that will be based on the findings collected by monitoring WP 4 and 5, WP6 and WP7 to inform a steady learning process throughout the work plan of this action.

WP 4 & 5: Supporting Policy Making / Capacity Building (phase 1 & 2)

WP4 & 5 build on existing infrastructures already developed and tested by many European organizations (including PP, Demsoc, Coglobal), with the aim of providing practitioners and public policy makers with resources and support in the process of designing, launching and promoting inclusive democratic innovation programs at different levels of management. Using existing practical and proven resources, the activities of these RPs will be aimed at expanding and adapting the existing infrastructure for a wide range of innovative democratic programs in Europe.

WP 6: Building the Democratic Infrastructure

The aim of WP6 is to shape, establish, develop, monitor and maintain a multi-layered network of researchers, practitioners and public policy makers for inclusive democratic innovation. The network will be based on a model of democratic governance to enable contractual democratic innovation through:

– building a Network for Democracy that can incorporate, supplement and expand the reach and expertise of existing networks in the field of democracy;

– ensuring a participatory approach to management for making decisions about budgets, policies and activities in horizontal and transparent ways.

WP 7: Recommendations & Impact

The aim of WP7 is to prioritize recommendations for European policy aimed at strengthening and restoring democracy in a wide range of areas, including through cultural and creative approaches. With this aim, activities within this RP include preparation of recommendations for public policies, transfer and implementation of democratic innovations among policy makers at different levels of governance; as well as providing support for the implementation of recommendations in different contexts.

WP 8: Dissemination, Exploitation, Communication

Activities under WP8 aim to inform and attract potential new members to the Nets4Dem network and to encourage the engagement of policy makers, practitioners and researchers across Europe and beyond.

WP 9: Ethics requirements

The objective of WP9 is to ensure compliance of the project, project activities and processes with ethical requirements.