With knowledge based on numerous trainings and educations, as well as concrete experience in the implementation of such formats, we can design the concept and steps in the implementation of the civil assembly in your context.

If you already have a developed concept, but you lack knowledge in the specific aspect of preparation and implementation of this format, we can take over the coordination and responsibility for the realization of certain segments of the entire process.

If you believe that joint work and shared responsibility for the preparation and implementation of such a format, or exchange of insights and experience of previously implemented such or similar models of citizen involvement, we are very open to any type of partnership.

By choosing an urban plan and analyzing its content, as well as the surrounding context, a clear impression of the plan's shortcomings and possible topics for discussion is gained. The structure of the assembly, participants, goals and expected results of the assembly may vary depending on the stage of development of the plan.

Topic mapping involves researching what has been communicated through the media or social networks regarding the plan. It will directly suggest potential topics of the plan that would be interesting or useful to process through the assembly, but also groups of actors who might be interested in participating.

Tuscany is perhaps the most frequently mentioned example of the institutionalization of deliberative democracy, due to the fact that it formally initiated a public policy that systematically promotes deliberative processes in 2007 (Law 69/07), determining "rules for the promotion of participation in the formulation of regional and local policies". The content of the law itself is the result of the deliberative process. A special regional budget was established to finance the deliberative mechanisms of participation. In addition, a separate, independent (albeit one-member) body (Autorità Per la Partecipazione) was established, which has the role of providing methodological advice, deciding on the financing of participatory processes and evaluating the various steps within the process.

With this law, Tuscany really became a kind of democratic "laboratory" because for the first time the principles of deliberative democracy were transposed into a regulatory document (such as how the term dialogue is defined or how the phase of information or inclusion is insisted), while guaranteeing that the administration covers the costs of developing various innovative tools in dialogue and discussions, as well as various impartial commissions that oversee the deliberation processes.

Applying this law, in the period between 2007 and 2012, out of 220 initiatives that were considered, 116 of them were financed, mainly in the field of urban renewal, urban planning, participatory budgeting, but also in the field of social policies and environmental protection policies. Later, in 2013, Law no. 69 was replaced by a new one (No. 259), which imposes the obligation of public deliberation for all infrastructure projects that exceed a certain level of costs, and transforms the previously determined body into a committee of three experts.

Grenoble became known for its participatory budgeting initiative (in the year 2022-2023, this process was held for the eighth time). This initiative allows the public to directly influence the allocation of a portion of the city budget, giving the opportunity to choose the projects to be financed.

A key part of this process is deliberation among citizens. Every year, citizens are invited to propose projects and ideas to improve their neighborhoods. After a number of proposals are collected, public meetings and workshops are organized where citizens discuss and vote for projects that will be financed from the budget.

An important insight from this practice is that the projects selected through participatory budgeting are often focused on improving public services, creating space for joint activities and improving the quality of life in the neighborhoods, confirming that citizens are certainly capable of thinking and acting in the general interest (and not only their own particular interest, which is often, albeit unfoundedly, used as an argument against more intensive development of public participation mechanisms). Also, the deliberative approach contributed to greater public trust in city institutions and budgeting processes, while decisions became better aligned with the real needs of the community.

With over 300.000 inhabitants, Newham is one of the largest and most diverse parts of London. Over the last few years, the administration of this municipality has established a special team that deals with resident engagement and participation [Resident Engagement and Participation Team]. Through this team, the municipality launched several projects for the inclusion of the community in urban planning, and recently started with community assemblies, that is, smaller civil assemblies that aim to identify priority areas in the development of the municipality.

The administration of Newham decided to include in the citizens' assembly everyone who lives, works or studies in the territory of the municipality, thereby fulfilling the assumption that everyone who will be affected by a certain decision (in this case, the one about the development of a certain territory) must be included in the decision-making process. Working groups of citizens, councilors and local stakeholders were also formed, who used their knowledge to oversee the assembly process and ensure that the community's needs were truly addressed. The entire procession had 4 phases, i.e. 4 assemblies, each of which had a specific goal and result (determination of priorities, concrete proposals for interventions, discussion on the implementation of interventions, discussion on the final results of the interventions and the participation process itself), while voting and information on the progress of the voted interventions was carried out between the assemblies. In addition to these four assemblies, working groups met more frequently, once a month, to take a closer look at the results of each of the assemblies and report regularly on the entire process.

Through the civic assembly, 82 projects (about 10 per neighborhood) were selected and are in various stages of implementation, such as community gardens, greenways, youth programs, community safety initiatives and temporary markets. All the time of the process, all elements were questioned, some of them were changed, as is the case with all experimental processes. However, it is important to note that the administration, in addition to institutional and human resources (a team dedicated to the development of public participation), also determined sufficient financial resources for the deliberation process, and then for the implementation of the voted interventions. These factors strongly influence the motivation of participants, ensuring real effects of participation, improving long-term trust in institutions and political processes.

Barcelona became famous for its Superblocks initiative, which represents an example of joint planning and reorganization of the existing city structure, in order to return public spaces to citizens (at the expense of vehicles).

As part of the Let's fill the streets with life program. Establishing the Suberblok model in Barcelona [Let's fill the streets with life program. The establishment of the Superblock Model in Barcelona], the special focus is on empowering citizens through their participation in shaping Superblocks and shared responsibility for the development of the city. Deliberative formats represent an important element of this process. Citizens are invited to give their input and participate in defining the future of their neighborhoods at each of the decision-making stages. First of all, the first phase of participation referred to the discussion and articulation of problems and needs (this was done at the level of an individual block). After that, a team of experts gathered in the so-called The technical secretariat of the Suberblok program determined the initial proposals for potential interventions, harmonizing the proposed requirements in the first phase of participation with the technical conditions and frameworks. The second phase gathered the local public in order to question the proposed interventions and further elaborate together with citizens, experts and representatives of the city administration, formulating a final proposal through consensus. After that, another round of participatory sessions is organized to elaborate the details of the final proposal and prioritize the interventions within it. For each block that will potentially be redeveloped, there is a special group, a kind of mediator between the local population and the technical team, which deals with these processes and supervises their implementation.

This project also represents an important step in the institutionalization and expansion of the application of such participation models to other aspects of the urban development of Barcelona. In addition, accompanying documents clarifying the methodology of the process, as well as the superblock concept itself and its effects on the quality of life in the city, also, as in the case of London, emphasize the importance of constant monitoring, evaluation and improvement of all elements of the process of citizen participation in decision-making.