Guide for the design, organization and facilitation of citizens' assemblies on climate change

The document outlines a comprehensive approach to implementing deliberative democracy for climate policy, detailing a five-phase process: preparation, learning, reflection, recommendation drafting, and decision-making. It emphasizes the need for independent governance, representative sampling, and inclusive accessibility measures to ensure high-quality, legitimate public policy recommendations.

• A Citizens' Assembly on climate change is defined as an exercise in deliberative democracy using a representative sample of the population to provide informed opinions and recommendations for public policy to governments and parliaments.
• The guide identifies three primary objectives for any citizen participation process: achieving a desired outcome (climate policy recommendations), ensuring a pedagogical process for participants and society, and maintaining respect for the people involved.
• Effective governance requires an independent and transparent structure to ensure the process remains separate from the commissioning authority. Examples from Spain include the use of independent coordination panels, multidisciplinary expert groups, and specialized technical teams for recruitment, facilitation, and communication.
• The deliberative process is structured into five non-linear phases: Preparation (Phase 0), Learning and Knowledge (Phase 1), Reflection and Deliberation (Phase 2), Preparation of Recommendations (Phase 3), and Decision Making (Phase 4), followed by Communication and Monitoring (Phase 5).
• To ensure the quality of recommendations, the guide suggests a 'bottom-up' approach starting with brainstorming, grouping proposals into objectives, and refining them with expert feedback on technical quality and political impact.
• Accessibility and inclusion are critical for legitimacy and are achieved through measures such as providing remuneration, covering expenses, ensuring physical and digital accessibility, and using inclusive language and diverse facilitation teams.
• The guide recommends a specific decision-making system for adopting recommendations, typically using a simple majority vote (half plus one) while accounting for abstentions; proposals with more than 30% abstentions may require a higher threshold (e.g., 66% or 75%) for approval.
• Facilitation is based on three pillars: respect for objectives, respect for the process, and respect for the people. Facilitators must remain detached from the content to maintain neutrality while managing group dynamics and power balances.

APA

Piñeiro, C., & González, L. L. (n.d.). Guide for the design, organization and facilitation of citizens' assemblies on climate change. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_EN.pdf

Chicago

Piñeiro, Conchi, and Laura Lucio González. Guide for the design, organization and facilitation of citizens' assemblies on climate change. Basque Centre for Climate Change, n.d. https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_EN.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Piñeiro |first1=Conchi |last2=González |first2=Laura Lucio |title=Guide for the design, organization and facilitation of citizens' assemblies on climate change |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |url=https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_EN.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pieirondguide, author = {Piñeiro, Conchi and González, Laura Lucio}, title = {{Guide for the design, organization and facilitation of citizens' assemblies on climate change}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, url = {https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_EN.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }