📍 General Assembly – Progress, Collaboration, and Vision | Brussels, Belgium | May 15, 2025 🇧🇪
The REDIRECT consortium gathered at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) for its annual General Assembly — a key occasion to assess progress, strengthen collaboration, and align on future directions in the field of democratic innovation.
🧭 Agenda Highlights:
The meeting opened with a comprehensive review of milestones, deliverables, and next steps across all work packages. Each team presented updates on ongoing research, reflecting REDIRECT’s interdisciplinary scope and strong coordination among partners as the project advances toward its core objectives.
💬 Expert Contributions:
A highlight of the day was the exchange with distinguished scholars and practitioners:
– Prof. Mark Warren (Participedia) – on representation and democratic experimentation
– Prof. Pierangelo Isernia (EUComMeet) – on insights from large-scale deliberative experiments across Europe
– Émilie Frenkiel (Global Citizens’ Assembly Network / Deliberative Universities Network) – on connecting institutions and young citizens in democratic participation
Their contributions inspired stimulating discussions on democratic representation, mini-publics, citizen deliberation, and the role of universities in strengthening democratic engagement.
🔮 Looking Ahead:
In the afternoon, participants prepared for the REDIRECT Scenario Building Event, setting the foundation for collaborative foresight work. A final planning session focused on upcoming reporting, publication strategies, and dissemination efforts.
🌱 Beyond formal sessions, the Assembly fostered moments of informal exchange and team building — reinforcing the collaborative ethos at the heart of REDIRECT’s mission to understand and bridge representative disconnects in European democracy.
📍 Location: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Brussels, Belgium
📅 Date: May 15, 2025
🤝 Partner: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
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