Democratic Innovation ©Antoinette Reyners, G1000 & Maéva Lafleur, What about Dem Suits, badges and a room full of future delegates: what a youth-led UN simulation approach can tell us about deliberative democracy. Security checks, side by side with MEPs From 7 to 9 October, MUNUCCLE 2026 brought together students from several schools across Europe. On opening day, everything started where delegates first had to go through security, in the same corridors as sitting members of

In 2007, the United Nations proclaimed 15 September the International Day of Democracy. Next year, as that declaration turns 20, Brussels will become European Capital of Democracy. To mark the occasion, What about Dem co-hosted an evening with the City of Brussels and UNDP, bringing together city officials and UN representatives, parliamentarians and academics, youth organisers and civil society leaders.

On 15 September, International Day of Democracy, What about Dem was participating at the Democracy Forward - Inspiration Festival, organised by the National Lottery Fund for Democracy, and managed by the King Baudouin Foundation and in partnership with BOZAR, BELvue and the City of Brussels. The day was dedicated to answer one of the most important questions of our time: how do we keep our democracy strong, resilient and relevant in a rapidly changing society?

On Tuesday, September 8, from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the Centr'Al building at the Albert intersection in Forest/Vorst hosted a citizen drop-in session dedicated to the deliberative democracy project taking place at Altitude 100 square. Organized by the What about Dem, Démocratie XXL and Divers Gens consortium, this meeting presented the overall project and answered residents' questions.

These are the Citizens' Forums of Albania and North Macedonia, organized by the European Parliament through its Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG), in cooperation with the Kuvendi, the Sobranie, and local partners IDM in Tirana and the ZIP Institute in Skopje. What about Dem designed the deliberative architecture and trained the facilitators for both, as it did for Montenegro twice and Kosovo.

Democratic innovation On 25 June 2026, in a hall in Esch-sur-Alzette, forty residents formally handed over their recommendations to the City. After three months of work, from March to June, the Citizens' Assembly of Esch had fulfilled its mandate. What members experienced between those two dates says a great deal about what deliberative democracy can produce, provided it is built properly, investing expertise, time, and resources into it. A letter that changes meaning Ania st

Six sessions. That’s how long it took to complete Brussels’ 7th Deliberative Commission, which focused on cleanliness and waste management in the capital. Following the information and deliberation sessions covered in our previous article, here is an account of the final two stages: the vote on the recommendations, followed by their official submission. The moment when collective work meets institutional reality.

Three sessions down. Two to go. Brussels’ 7th deliberative committee, the first ever to tackle the issue of cleanliness and waste management in the capital, is now well into its process. After an information session and two full days of discussion, the picture is becoming clearer: not just on the substance, but on what it actually looks and feels like when citizens and parliamentarians sit down together to build something. Here is what has been happening inside the rooms.

What About Dem contributed to the UN Special Rapporteur's Beyond Growth Roadmap, a landmark policy initiative calling for a fundamental rethinking of how we fight poverty.

Democratic innovation Brussels’ 7th Deliberative Committee has officially begun. Last night, at the Brussels Parliament, sixty people – 45 citizens selected by lottery and 15 members of parliament – gathered for the first time for the inaugural session. The central topic of debate for the coming weeks: cleanliness and waste management in Brussels. Starting today and continuing through the end of the process, What About Dem will be present at every stage to cover, analyze, an

Design / Strategy / Training What kind of Europe do young people want to live in by 2040? This question is not rhetorical. It is not symbolic. And it is not postponed to “later.” It is currently being explored across 19 European countries, where hundreds of young people are gathering in National Workshops organized around the Horizon Europe project YouthDecide 2040 to imagine, debate and design the future of democracy. Between March and May 2026, around 700 participants are t