Part of Notwestminster, a free event for everyone who has something positive to say about local democracy and anyone who is up for the challenge of making it better.

What is it?

We’re holding a Democracy Maker Day where anyone who is already doing (or who wants to do) something practical to improve our local democracy can work together with others in our network.

The Maker Day is jointly hosted by Involve and the Notwestminster network.

We’ll be exploring what role deliberative democracy could play in solving challenging local issues and giving local citizens a say over the decisions that affect them.

Who is it for?

Anyone is welcome to join in:

• Digital makers

• Local government officers

• Councillors and candidates

• Community activists

• Hyperlocals

• Open data advocates

• Researchers and students

• Voters of today and tomorrow

If you're interested in taking part, please register now.

What we'll be working on

Deliberative democracy focuses on giving people the information, time and support to carefully consider an issue, weighing up the different perspectives and options, before deciding what to do. One of the ways its most often practised is through “mini-publics” (such as citizens' assemblies and citizens' juries), which bringing together groups of randomly selected, but demographically representative, citizens to learn about an issue and to deliberate, before reaching a decision.

Deliberative democracy is being used around the world to reconnect people with decision-making and to tackle difficult issues. Some important issues that have already been considered in this way include abortion in Ireland, nuclear energy in South Korea, and adult social care in England. But why doesn’t more of this kind of decision-making happen in local government in the UK? And how could it?

Our main challenge will be:
How could deliberative democracy be introduced to councils, to involve citizens in tackling local issues?

If you know anything about local government or deliberative democracy, if you’d like to learn about how it works, or if you’d like to explore new ways of involving citizens in decision-making, this event is for you!

Get involved

Please come along to get more involved in the practical work of strengthening our local democracy.

If you have ideas to share, you can email us at notwestminster@gmail.com, tweet using #notwestminster or Join us on Slack

What else is on at Notwestminster?

This year’s Notwestminster is a two day event, including a Democracy Maker Day and PechaKucha Night on the Friday and participant-led workshops, lightning talks and discussions on the Saturday. On both days you can get advice about making the most of digital technology, join us for a few drinks and be part of creative activities with a distinctly democratic flavour.

Notwestminster 2019 main event - tickets available now

PechaKucha Night x Notwestminster - tickets available nearer the time

Notwestminster 2019 is sponsored by:

Notwestminster 2019 is supported by: