Two Ukrainian communities - Zvyahel and Slavutych - have started registering their residents for the first ever Ukrainian Citizens' Assemblies (CAs) to be held in October-November 2024, initiated and supported by the Council of Europe project «Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine».

Citizens' Assembly is a tool of deliberative democracy that has already been implemented in many countries in Europe and around the world: Germany, Italy, France, Poland, Belgium, Canada, Australia, the United States, etc. This is the first time that Citizens' Assemblies will be held in Ukraine. This will also mark the first time in the world that Citizens' Assemblies are held in a country under war conditions.

The organisation of the Citizens' Assembly is a complex process that has been underway since March 2024. The planning, preparation, and execution of the Citizens' Assemblies fully align with the Recommendation of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on deliberative democracy (https://go.coe.int/VUeis) and international standards for participatory democracy.

More information about Citizens' Assemblies: https://go.coe.int/DvP0z

According to the methodology developed in collaboration with Eva Bordos, a Council of Europe international expert who helped design and coordinate the first Citizens' Assemblies in Hungary, 4,000 randomly selected households in each community have been invited to register. From those who register, 45 individuals in each community will be randomly chosen to ensure representation of the community’s demographic composition. This selection will include 30 people from the invitees and 15 from those who did not receive an invitation.

Over three weekends in October and November 2024, participants on the Citizens' Assemblies will explore a key topic relevant to their community. They will receive information from experts and gain insights into various stakeholder perspectives on the issue. Guided by professional facilitators, participants will discuss the topic, evaluate the evidence, and consider potential solutions to the challenges their communities face. At the end of the Assembly, they will develop consensus proposals, which will be submitted to local authorities. The city authorities have committed to considering these proposals in their decision-making process.

The topics for the Citizens' Assemblies were decided during Stakeholder Forums held in July, through in-depth discussions and open voting. These forums were attended by engaged citizens, CSO representatives, business, students, volunteers, and the military.

• Topic of the CA - Zvyahel Community: Creating urban spaces as public locations for social interaction and recovery.
• Topic of the CA - Slavutych Community: How can we improve the household waste management system in our community?

Earlier, the Council of Europe project «Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine» had already selected the coordinators of the CAs and conducted a training for the coordinators, as well as for representatives of the local authorities of Zvyahel and Slavutych communities. The communities have also appointed members of their Supervisory Boards. Experts and facilitators are currently being recruited to help the members of the CAs develop proposals for local authorities on the selected topics.

Dates of the Assemblies:

•  Zvyahel Community: October 5-6, October 19-20, November 2-3, 2024
•  Slavutych Community: October 12-13, October 26-27, November 9-10, 2024

Addresses of city mayors to residents about Citizens' Assemblies and registration forms:

•  Slavutych Community: http://surl.li/uesert
•  Zvyahel Community: http://surl.li/oxzkdw

In March 2024, the Council of Europe project “Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine” held a conference «Visionary ways of engaging citizens: the future of deliberative democracy in Ukraine». During the event, perspectives and challenges of deliberative democracy during war and post-war period were discussed, as well as citizens' assemblies as a tool of deliberative democracy. Memorandums of understanding for the implementation of Citizens' Assemblies were signed between the Council of Europe Office in Ukraine and the two pilot communities of the Council of Europe project – Zvyahel and Slavutych.

The Council of Europe project «Strengthening democratic resilience through civic participation during the war and in the post-war context in Ukraine» is designed to support the implementation of the objectives set out in the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine «Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction» (2023-2026) to strengthen the democratic processes and address the challenges public authorities are facing in the time of war and in post-war context through active and effective civic participation at the local, regional and national level.

Follow the news of the project on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CivilParticipationPlatform.