Catalonia also creates a citizens’ assembly
Catalonia launches an assembly of 100 citizens to present a list of proposals to the Govern de la Generalitat to contrast climate change. In addition to voting, the Citizens’ Assembly will contribute to the definition of relevant public policies, with the aim of better involving citizens in democratization process of the country. The Assembly aims to raise awareness of the climate emergency and make proposals regarding:
- Climate changes and the spread of renewable energy,
- Climate changes and the dietary model for the future.
Figure 1. Poster of the Catalan Climate Assemby
How does the Citizens’ Assembly work?
In October 2023, the Catalan population received 20,000 invitations and 100 Catalan citizens will be randomly drawn from those who have registered. This will guarantee the representativeness of the different profiles of society with respect to age, gender, level of study, territory or origin.
The Citizens’ Assembly will meet six times between 18 November 2023 and 10 February 2024. Citizens do not need to be knowledgeable about climate issues, as experts from different fields will be present. They will aim to support participants together with a team of facilitators. Each citizen will receive a compensation fee of 65€ per session, as well as services to facilitate everyone’s participation. Three stages will constitute the assembly:
- Learning and training phase to increase participants’ knowledge
- Deliberation and preparation of recommendations,
- Return phase to explain the reasons behind the government’s choices.
Grup Motor, a group of 12 experts will be present to oversee the design, planning, execution and monitoring of the Assembly of 100 Catalan Citizen. This group will collaborate with the government, which will be in charge of analysing the recommendations and return a report. The purpose of the report is to explain the reasons behind the selection or exclusion of the different proposals.
Figure 2. Calendar of events
Dissemination activities are carried out through TV, radio and social media channels. For more information consult the website of the Assemblea Ciutadana pel Clima de Catalunya and have a look at the promotional video on youtube. This project is financed by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe funds under the Horizon-CLIMAS project.
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