A European network for sharing best practice on the design and implementation of climate assemblies

What is a Climate Assembly?

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How to Organise a Climate Assembly?

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What are the Impacts of Climate Assemblies?

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What are the Key Trends?

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Latest from KNOCA

See the latest events, news and resources from KNOCA

Events News Resources

"_{Even if we were to argue at this assembly, (…) perhaps something good would come out of it, and we don’t have enough opportunities to talk about various socially sensitive topics}"_{- Assembly Participant, Polish Citizens' Assembly on Energy Poverty}
A climate assembly brings together everyday people selected by democratic lottery to learn, deliberate and make recommendations on aspects of the climate crisis.

The insights of everyday people can make climate policy more robust.

Climate assemblies can challenge embedded social and climate inequalities.

Climate assemblies can help break political deadlocks on climate action.

Climate assemblies can increase the legitimacy and public acceptance of social action on climate.

Climate assemblies can promote a more climate aware and politically confident citizenry.

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Our Guidance on Climate Assemblies

KNOCA is co-creating guidance on different aspects of the commissioning, design, implementation, impact and evaluation of climate assemblies.

Follow-Up to Climate Assemblies

The follow-up process is a critical element of climate assemblies. It must not be an afterthought. The time and energy that citizens invest alongside the resources and effort from the commissioning authority and organisers needs to be matched by a carefully structured follow-up process.

Setting the Remit for Climate Assemblies

The remit for a climate assembly should be timely and relevant for citizens and policymakers, fit with the local context of climate politics, be accepted by most stakeholders, and consider the implications for delivery of the assembly given the constraints of time and money.

Governance of Climate Assemblies

Organisers of climate assemblies face the challenge of balancing the different agendas within society so that the process is seen as legitimate. This means arranging the governance of the assembly in ways that ensure that different interests recognise the integrity of the process.

See all our Practical Guidance

Map of Climate Assemblies

Summaries of Climate Assemblies

A number of climate assemblies have been organised across Europe at national, regional and local levels.
These vary in design and ambition. Below we have created short summaries of the national-level climate assemblies.

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Learning Call

Learning Call on Sweden's Climate Assembly

During the spring of 2024, the FAIRTRANS research programme hosted Medborgarråd om Klimatet (MoK), Sweden's first climate assembly and second national-level deliberative mini public. The Learning Call will consider the design and outcomes of the assembly, in particular the lessons we can draw from its communications and systems thinking ambitions.

News

Audiobook of We Need to Talk about Climate: How Citizens' Assemblies Can Help Solve the Climate Crisis

Graham Smith's new book on climate assemblies is now available as audiobook. Find the the link to the audiobook on the event page.

KNOCA Briefing

Developments in Sub-National Climate Assemblies: Lessons from Local and Regional Levels

KNOCA Briefing No.11 by Carolin Brodtmann and Ines Omann is a first attempt to systemise our understanding of new developments and innovations in practice amongst sub-national assemblies.

News

New report on more-than-human governance

DemocracyNext has published an intriguing report, “More-than-human governance experiments in Europe: Trends, opportunities, and challenges". Authored by Claudia Chwalisz and Lucy Reid the report emerges from a short exploratory research project to learn who is conducting new governance experiments in Europe, begin to map the field, learn from best practices, and share these findings.