Guía para o deseño, a organización e a facilitación de asembleas cidadás climáticas

The document outlines a comprehensive approach to implementing climate citizens' assemblies as tools for deliberative democracy. It details a five-phase process—preparation, learning, reflection/deliberation, recommendation drafting, and decision-making—while emphasizing the need for independent governance, representative sampling, and inclusive accessibility. The guide provides specific technical tools for virtual and in-person facilitation and uses examples from assemblies in Spain, Barcelona, Mallorca, and Gipuzkoa to illustrate different scales of implementation.

• A climate citizens' assembly is defined as a deliberative democracy exercise using a representative sample of citizens to produce public policy recommendations for governments and parliaments regarding the climate emergency.
• The guide adopts OECD best practice criteria for deliberative processes, which include a clear mandate, public accountability, transparency, representativeness, inclusion, access to expert knowledge, sufficient time for deliberation, independent governance, privacy, and evaluation.
• The deliberative process is structured into five non-linear, iterative phases: 0. Preparation, 1. Learning and Knowledge, 2. Reflection and Deliberation, 3. Preparation of Recommendations, and 4. Decision Making, followed by a final phase of communication and follow-up.
• Effective governance requires an independent and transparent structure to ensure the process remains autonomous from the promoting entity; for the Spanish national assembly, this included a coordination panel, a multidisciplinary group of independent experts, and technical teams for selection, facilitation, and communication.
• The guide emphasizes that the 'mandate' must be formulated as a clear question centered on a social dilemma, balancing the ambition of ecological transition with societal acceptance.
• To ensure accessibility and inclusion, the guide recommends specific measures: providing equipment for those with a digital divide, using inclusive language, ensuring physical space accessibility, and addressing the emotional impact of climate information.
• The process for developing recommendations involves a 'bottom-up' approach, starting with a brainstorm of ideas, grouping them into objectives, and refining them with expert feedback on technical quality and political impact.
• Decision-making for the Spanish national assembly utilized a simple majority vote (50% + 1 of 'Yes' votes over total 'Yes' and 'No' votes), with specific rules for handling abstentions: proposals with over 30% abstentions required a higher threshold (66%) for final approval.
• Facilitation is based on three pillars: care for objectives (results), care for the process (methods), and care for people (emotional and relational needs).

APA

Piñeiro, C., & González, L. L. (n.d.). Guía para o deseño, a organización e a facilitación de asembleas cidadás climáticas. Basque Centre for Climate Change. https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_GL.pdf

Chicago

Piñeiro, Conchi, and Laura Lucio González. Guía para o deseño, a organización e a facilitación de asembleas cidadás climáticas. Basque Centre for Climate Change, n.d. https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_GL.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Piñeiro |first1=Conchi |last2=González |first2=Laura Lucio |title=Guía para o deseño, a organización e a facilitación de asembleas cidadás climáticas |publisher=Basque Centre for Climate Change |url=https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_GL.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pieirondgua, author = {Piñeiro, Conchi and González, Laura Lucio}, title = {{Guía para o deseño, a organización e a facilitación de asembleas cidadás climáticas}}, institution = {Basque Centre for Climate Change}, url = {https://info.bc3research.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/bc3_Guia_disenio_org_facilita_asam_ciud_clima_GL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }