FuJo and ADAPT are collaborating on a new €3million H2020 project EUComMeet (Developing Participatory Spaces using a Multi-stage, Multi-level, Multi-mode, Multi-lingual, Dynamic Deliberative approach - M4D2).
Led by the University of Sienna, the project will support the development of deliberative and participatory democracies through experimentation. It will explore under which conditions deliberation and participation can help in reducing polarisation, strengthening European identity, encouraging inclusiveness and narrowing the representative gap between policymakers and citizens.
In DCU, Professor Jane Suiter from the School of Communications will lead on experimentation on the importance of emotions with Dr Lala Muradova, while Professor Andy Way of the School of Computing will lead on the integration of innovative technologies related to automated moderation and translation in multiple languages.
Although last decade’s scientific understanding of participatory and deliberative processes has increased and heightened interest in the potentials of these practices, their effectiveness in terms of impacts on citizens, policy outcomes and decision-makers has remained unclear, leading to the need for new methods and solutions. To tackle this, EUComMeet will put into practice its core disruptive M 4 D 2 approach through:
1) a proactive research strategy aimed at understanding strengths and weaknesses of current deliberation. 2) the design and piloting of novel Participatory Spaces including citizens, policy makers and stakeholders from all over Europe, 3) the integration of innovative technologies related to automated moderation and translation in multiple languages.
The EUComMeet consortium includes leading academic experts and interdisciplinary organizations with vast experience in the design, management and analysis of deliberative and participatory practices: University of Sienna (Italy); Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (Spain); Åbo Akademi (Finland); University of Warsaw (Poland); Dublin City University (Ireland); University of Stuttgart (Germany); Université Paris 8 - Vincennes Saint-Denis (France); Mission Publiques (France); Tuscan Organisation of Universities and Research 4 Europe (Belgium).
The Consortium will also benefit from the contribution partners, with unique expertise and extensive background on deliberative processes, namely the Collegio Carlo Alberto (Italy), the University of British Columbia (Canada) and the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University (California).
All the pilots and tools will be implemented and tested in 5 EU Member States (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, and Poland) and will be designed to be scalable to a larger set of countries, meaning replication potential and wider benefits for European society.
Research organizations, as well as societal actors and stakeholders interested or already committed in participatory policy initiatives are welcome to contact the Project’s Coordinator Prof. Pierangelo Isernia (eucommeet@unisi.it) or Prof. Jane Suiter (jane.suiter@dcu.ie).
