CRITIQUE-Open Government Partnership Scotland Event: What Next For Democracy? – 26 October 2022, 4:30pm

CRITIQUE and Open Government Partnership Scotland invite you to a public event about changing forms of citizenship and democratic action. Everyone is welcome, but places are limited, so please register on Eventbrite.

Time, date, location

• Wednesday, 26 October 2022, 4.30pm to 6pm
• 50 George Square, Room G.06, University of Edinburgh

About the event

Scotland has long fostered traditions of democratic engagement and community empowerment, facilitating spaces to imagine how public governance could be different. We have seen initiatives such as participatory budgeting, community wealth building and citizens’ assemblies enter the landscape. We have seen how organisations and volunteers carry out vital work in the heart of our communities as facilitators, activists and connectors. In this event, we will explore how Scotland might support this latest wave of democratic innovation and civic participation, weaving in examples from across the world and building on recent developments across the country.

With an opening provocation from Jon Alexander, author of the new book CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, we will hear about the recent rise of the ‘Citizen Story’ across politics, business, civil society and in communities and explore how it is challenging the fundamental nature and assumptions of our institutions – as well as showing what we can all do to play our part in the transformation. Speakers from Scotland will share reflections and challenges, followed by open discussion.

The event will be hosted by Oliver Escobar, Co-director of CRITIQUE (Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought) at the University of Edinburgh.

Panel:

• Jon Alexander: Author of CITIZENS: Why the Key to Fixing Everything is All of Us, recently listed as one of the Top 5 Recommended Books in McKinsey’s 2022 Summer Reading Guide. He began his career in advertising, winning the prestigious Big Creative Idea of the Year, before making a dramatic change. In 2014, he co-founded the New Citizenship Project, an experimental consultancy business working with organisations across all sectors to invite people into their agency as Citizens, not just serve them as Consumers.
• Kelly McBride: Practitioner of deliberative and participatory democracy, based in Edinburgh.
• Doreen Grove: Head of Open Government at The Scottish Government.
• Miriam Brett: Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and Democracy Collaborative.

Relevant links

• CITIZENS book (Jon Alexander with Ariance Conrad)
• Citizen future: Why we need a new story of self and society (BBC)
• Report from the Institutionalising Participatory and Deliberative Democracy Working Group (Open Government Partnership Scotland)
• Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland