Collaborative Learning Program
Introduction
The Collaborative Learning Program collects, organizes, and shares knowledge about deliberative democracy—both within the network and beyond. It helps members access insights, experiences, and resources that would be difficult—or impossible—to achieve individually. By learning together, members deepen their understanding of the most pressing issues in deliberative democracy and strengthen the collective capacity of the field.
Members of the network regularly host learning calls to present methodologies, share case studies, and discuss emerging research and innovations, and mini-workshops that provide feedback and advice to projects in the planning stage, or projects that have encountered tough problems.
Objectives
The program focuses on:
01
Gather, organize, and share knowledge across the network.
02
Strengthen collective learning and peer-to-peer exchange among DRD members.
03
Build connections between internal and external experts and initiatives.
04
Document and disseminate key insights on deliberative practices and reforms.
Key Activities
Discussion Calls
- Discussion Calls are open spaces where members of the network come together to exchange ideas, questions, and lessons learned on topics relevant to deliberative democracy. Each series begins with a collaborative process of gathering and organizing questions from participants, which helps shape a focused and inclusive agenda. To accommodate different time zones, two sessions are usually offered for each topic. During the calls, members share experiences, compare approaches, and build collective knowledge, while key takeaways are documented and shared with the network afterward.Recent discussions have explored evaluation frameworks, deliberative standards, and variations in mini-public practices across regions.
Presentation Calls
- Presentation Calls offer members the opportunity to showcase their work, share research in progress, and highlight innovations in deliberative democracy from around the world. Each session includes a short presentation, followed by Q&A and open dialogue that encourages learning and exchange among practitioners and researchers alike.
You can explore our latest materials below, including written reports and selected video highlights:
You can explore more of our recent Learning Calls and workshops—around 48 sessions have been organized so far. If you’d like to propose or co-organize a Learning Call, we’d love to hear from you! Just reach out to us at team@democracyrd.org.
Key Deliverables
Learning Summaries
- Each Learning Call and discussion produces concise summaries capturing key takeaways, lessons, and innovative practices shared across the network.
Knowledge Repository
- An evolving library of materials—case studies, methodologies, reports, and briefing notes—regularly updated in our online Library, where members and visitors can explore past sessions and resources.
Survey Findings and Collective Reflections
- Periodic surveys help identify emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities within the network, fostering a shared understanding of where the deliberative democracy field is heading.
Program Resources
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Get to know our work
Highlighted Projects
The network’s members work to increase civic lottery use, deliberation, and democratic reforms, locally to internationally. DRD’s areas of work are collaborative learning, community building, field building, and democracy change.
Get to know our Living Guidebooks
New Frontiers Project
We created three comprehensive and situationally-relevant living guidebooks on institutionalization, the Global South, and difficult issues
