News from our World Tour and Accelerators opportunities and impact!
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✉️ You've got mail from the People Powered World Tour! 🌎
✉️ You've got mail from the People Powered World Tour! 🌎
Dear friend,
Our staff have been speaking around the world in recent weeks, to support and advocate for a more participatory democracy. Here are a few highlights:
Greta Ríos delivered a prestigious Stockholm Series talk on climate democracy for our member International IDEA in Sweden, and seminars in Argentina for the World Congress of Democracy with Asuntos del Sur.
Josh Lerner produced a webcast and podcast on the next stage of democratic innovation, with our member SALAR in Sweden, and delivered a talk at International IDEA on building stronger democratic ecosystems.
Melissa Zisengwe delivered a talk on the future of participation technology at the SIX Social Innovation Indaba in South Africa.
Nikhil Kumar spoke at a session on shared resources for participatory and deliberative democracy at the Democracy R&D conference in Canada.
Zoë Wilkins shared opportunities for climate democracy at the International Observatory on Participatory Democracy in Portugal.
Josh and Greta led a session on democratic innovations at the World Movement for Democracy Global Assembly in South Africa.
Whew! We’re working hard to renew democracy. Let us know if you’d like us to join your event!
The People Powered Team
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The application deadline for the Accelerators has been extended! Apply by December 1.
You asked, and we listened! We’ve extended the deadline for the Accelerators to December 1 to give you time to craft a strong application. This is your chance to launch or improve a participatory program that empowers communities to address the issues that matter most—climate change, inequality, and more.
New Video: How climate democracy helped a rural community recover from cyclone devastation
When Cyclone Idai devastated eastern Zimbabwe in 2019, the rural community of Chipinge faced unimaginable challenges. However, through the power of grassroots participation and the Climate Democracy Accelerator, they turned tragedy into a model for resilience. Together, local leaders and citizens created Zimbabwe’s first grassroots climate policy, blending traditional knowledge with innovative practices like sustainable honey production and native tree planting.
Watch our new short video to see how Chipinge’s journey can inspire communities worldwide to adapt, recover, and thrive in the face of climate change.
From Innovations to Ecosystems: Highlights from the Remixing Democracy Webinar
"There is no one-size-fits-all solution in democracy — that’s why integrating various practices is essential," was one of the resounding takeaways from our Remixing Democracy Webinar. Want to learn more? Read the recap and watch the recording to see how experts from around the globe are blending democratic practices like citizens’ assemblies, social movements, and digital engagement to create stronger, more inclusive ecosystems of democracy.
What comes after the year of elections?
Half of the world’s population voted this year, yet democracy feels weaker than ever. With billions spent on campaigns, elections dominate while deeper civic engagement is neglected. Frustration grows as cycles of voting fail to deliver real change, leaving trust in democracy eroded.
There is hope. Around the world, governments and organizations are building democracy beyond elections. People Powered and its 200+ members are leading this shift with participatory budgeting, policymaking, citizens’ assemblies, and other democratic innovations. Learn how this work is transforming governance and how you can join the movement.
Janaagraha (India) launched the Swachhata civic technology platform! This will facilitate communication between citizens and civic officials as a grievance redressal mechanism. Congratulations!
Our individual member Gustavo Maia, the founder of Colab, is organizing a free online event about public management and citizen participation for around 100,000 public servants in Brazil, from December 3–5. The lectures are in Portuguese! Sign up to participate.
Congratulations to Katy Rubin on the successful launch of the People Act website, a hub of resources, animations, case studies and practitioner network for legislative theater from around the world!
Involve UK is hosting two new online training masterclasses on facilitation 101 and deliberative democracy 101
The Executive Director of Finance Think (North Macedonia), Blagica Petreski, is selected as an Academic Scholar of the International Monetary Fund!
International IDEA developed a new dashboard to track how extreme weather events have disrupted elections globally.
Open Society Foundations launched The Ideas Letter, a new online magazine and newsletter that delivers political and cultural perspectives to readers open to the unconventional.
World Resources Institute published a research paper on the critical gaps and next steps in climate financing for sustainable transport.
Open Government Partnership announced upcoming regional summits in the Americas and Asia.
November 26, 2024: Involve: Facilitation 101 training
November 26. 2024: Democracy Reporting International: Democracy In War
November 29, 2024: Participation Factory: Facilitation Bootcamp
November 29, 2024: Involve: Deliberative Democracy 101 training
December 3–5: Colab Gov Submit
December 3–6, 2024: OGP: America Abierta (Brazilia)
February 4–6, 2025: Consul Conference 2025 (Gran Canaria)
February 5–7, 2025: OGP Asia and the Pacific Regional Meeting (Manila)
June 10–11, 2025: TICTeC 2025 (Machelen and online)
We curate high-quality resources at our Resource Center from global participatory democracy experts, and they shape our Accelerators, mentorship, and online training programs:
Climate Democracy — Can public participation accelerate net zero transition? Read examples of current innovations, key challenges and existing knowledge centers and learning communities in the field of climate engagement around the world.
Mainstreaming Participation — 30 years of democratic innovations in Latin America. These cases showcase how participation can successfully be embedded into institutional structures, facilitating the scaling and strengthening of public participation in Latin America.
Inclusion — Including the underrepresented. This guide from the Federation for Innovation in Democracy (FIDE) suggests practical methods to ensure that a process is inclusive from its inception to delivery.
Democratic Innovations — Assemblies as a Tool for Just Democracy. This report by Partners for Dignity & Rights outlines how social movements and citizens’ assemblies can be combined as ‘Movement Assemblies’ to help build capacity, power and political clarity.
Womenstrong: Funding For Climate & Environmental Justice (Deadline: November 30, 2024)
Bloomberg Cities: Bloomberg Philanthropies 2025 Global Mayors Challenge calls on mayors to work with residents and entrepreneurs to radically reimagine their most essential municipal services with a $1 million grant (Deadline: December 20, 2024)
National Endowment for Democracy: Grants to advance democratic goals and strengthen democratic institutions (Deadline: January 7, 2025)
WYDE Civic Engagement call for proposals: Grants to support youth civic engagement and participation across Sub-Saharan Africa (Deadline: January 15, 2025)
Multitudes Foundation: Open call for incubation and scaling grants for organizations building more inclusive politics in Europe (Rolling deadline)
