Anthony Zacharzewski

Why Democratic Society?

I set up Demsoc in 2006, with four friends, because we saw that politics and democracy wasn’t keeping up with the changes that the Internet was bringing, and there was a need for new democratic approaches, with greater participation and more responsive government. Eighteen years later, a lot has been achieved, but the threats have grown as well. I’ve never regretted giving myself to this work - today it feels more important than ever.

Where I'm based:

Brussels.

Languages I speak:

English, French, Dutch and bits and pieces of others.

Profile

Anthony Zacharzewski co-founded the Brussels-based international association Democratic Society in 2006, of which he has been President since 2010. He has grown it to a multi-national organisation working across 31 countries to build new models of democracy and improve citizen participation and governance.

Current projects include Net Zero Cities, the platform for the EU Cities Mission, where Demsoc leads the city interface and work on citizen and stakeholder engagement; and Networks for Democracy, a global network for participation practitioners, researchers and government. From March 2024, he co-chairs the European Climate Democracy Forum along with the European Environmental Bureau.

Before starting Demsoc, he was a senior civil servant and local government officer in the UK.

Let's get in touch!