Climate Citizens’ Assemblies #2: Designing for legitimacy

How to organize a Climate Citizens’ Assembly that is representative, inclusive and trusted by both society and politics?

Climate policy has become a polarizing topic, sparking protests all over Europe -from the yellow vests movement in France to resistance towards wind turbines in The Netherlands. As a result, various countries are experimenting with Climate Citizens’ Assemblies, in which a group of randomly selected citizens deliberate and formulate recommendations for climate policy. They often manage to come to better and more effective solutions than politicians, with broad public support. This is partly because the group is a more inclusive representation of society and therefore includes a much larger variety of perspectives. What is key when setting up the selection process? How can be made sure that everyone is able to participate equally throughout the process, despite age, gender, profession, cultural background and/or level of education? And how can the design of a Citizens’ Assembly ensure its democratic legitimacy, by making sure its decisions are trusted?

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I really appreciated the insights from their experience in France and Scotland, especially around the challenges around legitimacy and criteria for fair representation. It would be great to see an edited version of this video with just the best excerpts (e.g. total under 10 minutes) and I'm sure you would get a lot more views. Also some choice quotes as short video clips could invite sharing on social media.