Citizens' assembly: a tool of deliberative democracy

Civic engagement, trust, and cohesion between authorities and residents are critically important for community resilience during wartime.

However, existing public participation practices face the following challenges:

→ residents’ passivity, and

→ a lack of mechanisms for constructive dialogue.

How can we facilitate discussions on complex and potentially divisive topics in a way that fosters mutual understanding and promotes inclusive solutions?

We propose new approaches to public participation — deliberation and citizens' assemblies.

A citizens’ assembly is an innovative form of public participation that fosters social cohesion.

It enables the involvement of diverse groups of residents in informed, well-reasoned discussion (deliberation) on pressing issues and the development of constructive solutions.

This format enhances the quality of community proposals and promotes mutual understanding.

How will the procedure be conducted?

1. Preparatory stage.

• Stakeholder forum – marked the first public step in preparing for the Citizens' Assembly, aiming to engage residents and civil society organizations in the process. Community leaders who maintain regular contact with a broad audience - such as school principals, village elders, representatives of NGOs, religious leaders, university faculty, business representatives, and others - are invited to participate. During the forum, participants select the topic for the Assembly, form the Advisory Committee, and develop initial ideas for the Assembly’s agenda.
• Advisory committee – is a consultative body of the Citizens’ Assembly, composed of up to seven representatives from the public and the city council. The committee facilitates the effective communication of the Assembly’s process and outcomes to residents of the Zhytomyr community, providing advice and feedback throughout the preparation stage.

2. Random selection and invitation of participants. 

• During August 2025, several thousand letters will be sent to randomly selected postal addresses in the city of Zhytomyr and the village of Veresy, inviting residents to express their interest in participating in the Citizens’ Assembly by registering on the BRIDGE website. This process ensures that all members of the community, regardless of their official registration, have an equal chance of receiving the initial invitation. 
• In September 2025, up to 80 participants will be randomly selected from those who registered, with attention to reflecting the sociodemographic profile of the community and ensuring diversity among participants.
• Participation in the citizens’ assembly is open to community members aged 14 and older.

3. Citizens’ assembly.

• On October 25–26 and November 1–2, from 10:00 to 18:00, 2025, the citizens’ assembly will take place. During this event, residents will work in small groups to explore the topic and develop recommendations. Independent experts, relevant representatives of local self-government, and active members of civil society will provide additional information but will not participate in the deliberations. Experienced facilitators from BRIDGE will ensure that the discussions are structured, inclusive, and effective.

4. Submission of recommendations to the Zhytomyr city council.

• Following the assembly, all participants’ recommendations will be compiled into a citizens’ assembly report and officially presented to the Zhytomyr City Council. The Council commits to taking these recommendations into account when developing targeted programs and to reporting on the implementation of each recommendation. This process ensures meaningful public involvement in decision-making and strengthens trust in local authorities.
• One-year progress report. One year after the citizens’ assembly, city officials will hold a public event to report back to the community. They will provide updates on the status of the recommendations: what has been implemented, what requires additional time or resources, and how other recommendations have been or will be addressed. This forms the foundation for a sustained dialogue and accountability between the authorities and the community.

5. Academic research.

• The BRIDGE project will study the organizational process, participant feedback, and the outcomes of the citizens’ assembly to document, analyze, and share the Ukrainian experience with the international community of deliberative democracy researchers and practitioners.

The random selection of participants and the quality of deliberation will be overseen by BRIDGE experts:

Prof. Hans-Liudger Dienel – Head of the Department of work, technology, and participation at the Technical University of Berlin; Managing Director of the Nexus Institute for cooperation management and interdisciplinary research (Nexus GmbH).

Kerstin Lueker, PhD – Head of the technology and participation Division at the Department of work, technology, and participation, Technical University of Berlin.

Oleksandra Keudel, PhD – Associate Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of social sciences; Principal Investigator of the BRIDGE project at the Kyiv School of Economics.

Illia Tkachenko – Project Manager of the Master’s program in urban studies and post-war reconstruction at the Kyiv School of Economics; research coordinator in the BRIDGE project.

About the BRIDGE project: https://bridge.kse.ua/#about 

Project Email address: [email protected]

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Research Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.