We Need To Talk About Climate: How Citizens’ Assemblies Can Help Us Solve The Climate Crisis
About this ebook
This book charts the development of climate assemblies across Europe and beyond. It explores what ordinary people want, highlighting the ways in which assembly recommendations take us beyond current government policies and offer new visions and directions for change. It shows that not all assemblies are the same and that the context and design of climate assemblies have differed quite profoundly – as have their impacts on policy and public discourse. The book also lays out the key elements needed for climate assemblies to have sustained impact, providing essential insights for anyone wanting to run or advocate for them, and concludes with reflections on what we can expect from assemblies as they evolve.
The transition to net zero and climate resilient societies requires deep social and economic transformations that will have significant impacts on citizens’ choices and behaviours. Such a transition needs to engage the public directly and this book shows how climate assemblies can achieve this, allowing us to address the issues we all face together.
About the author
Graham Smith is Professor of Politics at the Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster, UK. He is a globally recognised expert on democratic innovations – new forms of public participation in political decision making. His book Democratic Innovations: Designing Institutions for Citizen Participation (Cambridge University Press, 2009) helped define this field of study.
In 2021 he was appointed the founding Chair of the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA), funded by the European Climate Foundation. This role builds on his international reputation for collaborating with governments, practitioners, civil society organisations and activists to build robust climate and democratic governance. He has been recognised by Apolitical as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Academics in Government.
Recent publications include Can Democracy Safeguard the Future? (Polity, 2021) and Democracy in a Pandemic: Participation in Response to Crisis (University of Westminster Press, 2021), edited with colleagues at the participation charity Involve.
Until recently he was Chair of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development and is a long-time collaborator with Participedia and Democracy R&D.
