Category archives: Uncategorised

In today’s post in our series looking back at our first ten years of project work, Anthony revisits a research piece that asked questions still relevant today. After ten years of work, there are a lot of projects to remember. Some you keep at the front of your mind. Others you come across in some […]

Looking back over ten years of projects, Anthony discusses an early project out and about in rural Sussex. Although it’s fair to say Captain Sussex never made it to the level of fame achieved by Captain America, he was quite often found in rural Lewes district during 2013. One of our bigger early projects was […]

Demsoc works across Europe, and very often also outside capitals and government buildings. One of the most striking projects in recent years was Le Agorà di Messina, which ran over the course of a year in Sicily and was entirely designed and executed by the citizens taking part, supported by Demsoc. Francesca Attolino and Ivan […]

The #demsoc10 post we planned for today has been slightly delayed by engineering works and Storm Ciara, so tonight Anthony looks back at our first project in Scotland. Demsoc started life in Brighton, and our first office and team was based there. Much of our early work was with local government, and we’ll share some […]

All this month, we are looking back at Demsoc projects from our last ten years. Today, Anthony looks at our 2018 report on how to involve citizens in decision making on research spending. Most of the work that we do at Demsoc is practical, in that we are asked to work and test things with […]

Yesterday, as part of the #demsoc10 series celebrating ten years of Demsoc projects, we discussed a huge project that didn’t end up changing the world. Today, Anthony talks about a small project that might be a hint of things to come. In 2018, 99 European citizens from 27 countries, speaking 23 languages, gathered for a […]

During February, to celebrate 10 years since our first project, we’re looking back at some of the highlights. Today, our Treasurer Catherine Howe looks back at the glory and the pain that was NHS Citizen. The ambition of NHS Citizen was either incredibly audacious or unbelievably naïve – how do you create a meaningful democratic […]

We’re looking back over the past 10 years of Demsoc projects during February. Yesterday, we looked at our very first project. Today, Kevin Ditcham from our local democracy team looks at one of our most recent ones – the Innovation in Democracy Programme! The Innovation in Democracy Programme was exactly what it set out to […]

All through February, we are revisiting some of the 150-plus projects we have undertaken since 2010. Today, Anthony Zacharzewski looks back at our very first one. Lurking still in a remote corner of our website is the output of our very first project – Democracy Pays, a short white paper commissioned by Public-i on the financial benefit of opening up local government to greater participation, published in spring 2010. It seems an obvious question – does participatory democracy […]

Ten years ago, I started Demsoc’s first project. The desk where I worked was in the spare room of my house in Hanover, Brighton. Demsoc had been around for a while before 2010 – it started as a broad concept in about 2003, then with the help of four friends became an organisation in 2006. […]