Materials from all Deliberative Democracy Lab meetings
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From February to July 2026, the BRIDGE team held five meetings of the Deliberative Democracy Lab.
The Deliberative Democracy Lab is a cross-sectoral platform that brought together representatives of public authorities, civil society organisations, local self-government bodies and research teams, as well as public participation practitioners, to exchange views and jointly develop recommendations on implementing deliberative democracy tools in Ukraine.
The first citizens’ assemblies and a citizens’ panel have already taken place in Ukraine, and interest in these formats is growing. However, there is still a lack of a coordinated approach to their application in the Ukrainian context, as well as sufficient institutional readiness to integrate this new form of participation into their work. Therefore, together with the participants, we explored how international deliberative democracy practices can be adapted to the Ukrainian context and developed practical recommendations for communities and public institutions.
To access all the presentations, written summaries, and recordings of the meetings, use the navigator.
Below is an overview of each session and links to the recordings.
First meeting: Deliberative Democracy Lab
On 19 February, the preparatory online session focused on introductions and agreements on the next six months of work. The 37 participants outlined their expectations, agreed on principles of cooperation and the working format, aligned their understanding of key terms, and identified the topics to be addressed by the Lab.
They also agreed to ensure transparency in the Lab’s work and make all its outputs publicly available.
Meeting recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6naX6kiyTkg
In small groups, they focused on three key aspects of a deliberative process:
- how to ensure the representativeness of participants through sortition;
- how to choose a topic for discussion;
- how to build trust and legitimacy in the process.
Meeting recordings:
4 March https://youtu.be/TKxbuUmBJF4?si=8qzrDPFdVFq3mEdc
5 March https://youtu.be/mhj3V-BJy7Q?si=cR0S8oLwxmODP2_C
Third meeting: Deliberative democracy in the context of the Law of Ukraine "On People’s Power"
On 16 and 17 April, the Lab community gathered offline in Kyiv for the first time. This time, participants explored how deliberative democracy tools could be applied within the new legislative framework for public participation.
Participants compared Ukrainian and international experience of deliberative democracy. They examined how citizens’ assemblies and the citizens’ panel are already operating in Ukraine, the priorities for deliberative democracy set out in the action plan of the Open Government Partnership initiative, and how such practices are applied at the national and EU levels. They discussed which aspects of international experience could be applied in Ukraine, including in the context of the Law of Ukraine “On People’s Power”, and what requires a different approach under wartime conditions.
The session also marked the start of a collaborative process to draft methodological recommendations.
Meeting recordings:
16 April https://youtu.be/T-GD63j3OZk?si=OM7PoZzLJocFGjdA
17 April https://youtu.be/1Ni36kHuVyk?si=fR0A9IhmPl7mEflJ
Fourth meeting: Digital deliberation
On 16 and 17 June, the online sessions focused on how to bring deliberative processes — the exchange of arguments, consideration of different perspectives and the collective search for agreement — into the digital sphere while preserving their core principles and protecting them from undue influence.
We explored Ukrainian and international practices of digital deliberation. Discussions covered the development of digital democracy in Ukraine, including updates to Diia and the Ukrainian Civic Tech Lab initiative. Jess Scully presented five principles of effective digital deliberation based on experience from Taiwan, Australia, Japan, European countries, and the United States. We also explored digital tools for collective discussions of decisions and policies: the E-dem platform, which enables residents to participate in local governance, and Polis, a tool that helps identify areas of agreement among participants in online discussions. Participants were also introduced to deliberative polling and Stanford University’s platform, which enables large groups to take part in online deliberative discussions.
Meeting recordings:
16 June https://youtu.be/fZaAXRjBBxc
17 June https://youtu.be/14YVdU0SA-w
Fifth meeting: Institutionalisation of deliberative democracy in Ukraine
On 29-30 July, the Lab concluded with a two-day meeting in Kyiv. At the KSE Dragon Capital Building, participants revisited the outcomes of previous sessions and worked together to refine the recommendations.
The community explored international experience of institutionalising deliberative tools, discussed how sustainable social movements emerge, and governance approaches change, and compared these experiences with the Ukrainian context.
We returned to the practice of citizens’ assemblies in Ukraine and examined how residents’ views can be taken into account at every stage of public investment — when a community plans, selects and evaluates projects, rather than simply approving a decision that has already been made.
The working groups refined their sections and agreed on a preliminary draft of the recommendations. The final document will cover the entire deliberative process and serve as a practical guide for communities, public authorities and research teams.
Meeting recordings:
29 July https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iwFVeIOo8
30 July https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0u9Pa7SVRA
What’s next
The Lab participants agreed to establish an open, informal network of deliberative democracy practitioners in Ukraine. Participation in the network will be voluntary, and its members will determine the next steps themselves.
In August 2027, the community plans to meet again to share its work and jointly agree on the next steps.