Title
Brief description
Keywords
Climate assembly, climate crisis, citizen deliberation, climate policy, citizen participation
City/Country
Time period
2020 - 2021
Lever(s)
Policy, Regulation & Governance
Methodologies
Climate Assembly
World Region
Scale(s) of the case analysed
Target audience and dimension
Domain(s) of application
Context addressed
Solution applied
Challenge addressed/ Problem-led approach
Barriers addressed
Main Practices
Impact
Co benefits
Engagement Journey
Impact to climate neutrality
- Collaboration Action Ability
- Political Commitment & Problem Ownership
- Behaviour Change
The climate assembly was a direct result from the need of the Scottish government to get the citizens’ perspective and develop possible ways forward in tackling climate change. The results of the climate assembly are meant to directly feed into the national strategy and the formation of new policies for Scotland’s approach to the climate crisis. It was directly related to the Climate Change Act.
Context & Public policy of reference
The climate assembly generally tackled the overall climate politics and approach of the Scottish Government, to break down the very broad topic three aspects were addressed in subgroups:
Diet, Land Use & Lifestyle
Homes & Communities
Travel & Work
Innovative approach(es) addressed
- Co-creation
- Collaborative governance
- Deliberative approaches eg. Structured dialogic processes
Initiator
The Climate assembly has been organised by a committee consisting in a Stewarding Group, Secretariat, a Design&Facilitation Team and an evidence group. It was set up as it was required by the Climate Change Act 2019.
Stakeholder networks and organisational model
The initiative was governed by a Stewarding Group providing guidance to the citizens. Throughout the assembly, the citizens were empowered and the final report was entirely based on what was discussed throughout the Assembly. Nontheless, there was no commitment to specific actions by the government following the delivery of the report, the final decision making of the impact on policies still lied on the government and the specific impact remained partly unclear.
Being conducted during the COVID19 pandemic, the entire Assembly consisted in online meetings without any physical encounter.
The sessions were done as a mix of plenary sessions with all participants and smaller groups to enable active engagement and foster trust-building among the participants.
Multiple online tools and shared documents were used for the collaborative work among participants.
The entire process was facilitated to ensure the maintenance of the safe space, provide guidance and support the citizens with both technical issues and questions related to the topic.
Democratic Purpose
Participant Recruitment
nteraction between participants
Resources
Key enablers
1. Public deliberation on a major topic was enabled and successfully executed
2. Participants have reported lifestyle changes a further activism in relation to climate change following their participation in the climate assembly
3. The Assembly has led to a broader coverage and enhanced discussion of the topic in the media (especially online)
Key inhibiting factors
Complexity of climate change as a topic
Citizens could be divided in areas of interest or expertise to break down the topic
The systemic nature of climate change should be integrated in the process to facilitate learning and comprehension
Alignment with policy needs
A review and alignment with current policies could be a part of the assembly
The fast-paced changes in the policy environment require long-term or recurring assemblies to be effective
Entirely online held formats still need to be refined to be fully engaging
Develop and offer different formats and channels to meet different needs
Balance the need to shorten online sessions compared to in-person sessions while making sure there is enough time to discuss and deliberate
Find ways for participants to build trust and bond even when being remote
Drawbacks/pros/cons of the solutions (after implementation)
Scalability
Key lessons
Indicators
The Scottish government committed to the results of the Climate Assembly in an official response, but it is difficult the identify the precise impact on policies and strategies.
Other policy documents developed after the conclusion of the Assembly were analysed, but no evidence was found that the Assembly has had any direct impact on them.
However, the Assembly was widely covered in online media pushing the climate change debate online forward.
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