As was the case for much of the world, Democracy R&D’s 2021 was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and how the network could adapt to it. As such, the annual meeting in 2021 was entirely online, with programs planned across three time regions. The meeting was focused on a few key themes: how to make mini-publics permanent, lessons learned and what still needed to be learned about conducting mini-publics online, co-creation of mini-publics with various stakeholders, obligations to implementing participants’ recommendations, and how best to communicate about citizens’ assemblies, among a number of others.
This annual meeting was unique from all its predecessors. The reality of only being able to convene online required that the network host multiple workshops and plenaries to accommodate numerous timezones. It also brought opportunities. Exploring digital participation critically has proven fundamental to the evolution of mini-publics, as more people can be engaged across the world through their computer and phones. Indeed, this virtual nature of this annual meeting in many ways informs contemporary deliberative fora.
