Demsoc works with government, the private sector and third sector on projects that improve democracy and public governance.
Participatory innovation: Building on the success of CityCamp Brighton, we are working with a number of partners to develop CityCamp’s open innovation model for use in a wider range of local and national situations.
We Live Here - neighbourhood democracy: Supported in part by NESTA’s Creative Councils programme in Brighton & Hove, we are developing a structure for building democratic local conversations and unlocking community resources.
Better Parish Meetings: Parish and town councils have an advantage over most urban neighbourhoods in having a structure for democratic engagement already in place. We are working with partners in parished areas to make better use of parish AGMs as democratic centrepieces.
Neighbourhood planning: Neighbourhood planning is potentially a revolution in local decision making – or a disaster of vested interests and NIMBYism waiting to happen. We are thinking about open planning, and helping to build the sort of open, challenging and informed discussion that meaningful neighbourhood planning will require.
Putting democracy back into localism: Localism and democracy are two very separate things, but strong and responsive public services cannot be delivered without both working together. This project considers how citizen governance and participation can ensure localism reflects local needs rather than loudest voices. We curated a strand of sessions on this topic as part of the SOLACE Summit in October 2011, and spoke at the Conservative Councillors’ Association conference in February 2012.
Democracy beyond borders: Democracy is not just a local or national issue. As Europe responds to the debt crisis with a renewed drive towards integration, we are working on how Europe and other transnational institutions can be made more democratic, considering models for online and international participation such as the European Citizens’ Initiative.
The media democracy deserves: We are hosting discussions and a collaborative drafting exercise on what democracy needs from the media, and what regulation is needed, with the support of the Carnegie UK Trust.
Previous projects
Financial case for engagement: A short white paper looking at the economic argument for democratic engagement.
