Resources

Recorded KNOCA Events: Videos from our past learning calls and workshops. Find them below or on the KNOCA YouTube channel.

KNOCA Briefings: Research findings on key aspects of climate assembly practice.

‍National Assemblies: Short summaries of the national-level Climate Assemblies held across Europe.

Practical Guidance from KNOCA with detailed best-practice recommendations in key areas of climate assembly practice can be found here.
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Current Trends Report

Draws on KNOCA’s collected body of work, offering an overview of what we can learn from climate assemblies practice.

New book on Climate Assemblies:
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT CLIMATE

Graham Smith, Chair of KNOCA, has published a short book, We Need to Talk about Climate: How Citizens’ Assemblies Can Help Us Solve the Climate Crisis, with the open access University of Westminster Press. It is available free to download or can be bought in hard copy. The book explores the variety of climate assemblies that have taken place so far at local, national and international levels and explains why they have captured the imagination of governments and activists alike. It examines the different contexts and designs of climate assemblies and assesses their impact. Drawing lessons from current practice, the book demonstrates how assemblies can take us beyond the shortcomings of electoral and partisan politics and how they can have a real and lasting impact on climate policy and politics.

Get the book

Learning Call

November 26, 2024

Learning Call on Sweden's Climate Assembly

Spring 2024, the FAIRTRANS research programme hosted Medborgarråd om Klimatet (MoK), Sweden’s first climate assembly and second national-level deliberative minipublic.

Workshop

October 21, 2024

Revisiting the impact of the Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat

Five years ago this Autumn, the French Citizens’ Convention for the Climate began its work. The Convention was aground-breaking initiative that has shaped the last five years of climate assembly practice across Europe and beyond. The impact of the Convention continues to be contested.

External Event

October 14, 2024

Webinar on Children and Young People's Participation in Climate Assemblies

Child Rights International Network (CRIN) and Youth Environment Europe (YEE) invite you to a conversation on children and young people taking part in citizens’ assemblies on environmental crises, supported by the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA).

Other KNOCA Event

September 26, 2024

Book Launch: We Need to Talk about Climate

The launch of the open access book We Need to Talk about Climate: How Citizens’ Assemblies Can Help Us Solve the Climate Crisis by Graham Smith, Chair of KNOCA. It will be available in mid-September free to download in both print and audiobook versions.

Other KNOCA Event

July 2, 2024

KNOCA Launch Event: Playbook for Civil Society Organisations

Civil society organisations (CSOs) are often unsure about how to position themselves in relation to climate assemblies. Should they advocate for assemblies? How should they engage with a proposed assembly in their country, region or municipality? Should they participate in the process or just watch from the side-lines?

Other KNOCA Event

June 11, 2024

Emerging Trends, Challenges and Opportunities

KNOCA will be publishing an updated version of its report on emerging trends in climate assemblies at the end of April. In this event, our chair, Graham Smith, will present the main insights from the report.

Workshop

June 5, 2024

Workshop on Engaging Stakeholders in Climate Assemblies

This workshop presents the findings from a draft KNOCA Briefing on the different forms of involvement of stakeholders and their roles in climate assemblies. It asks what contributions – and challenges – stakeholders can bring to assemblies and how they can best be integrated. Drawing on a range of approaches to engaging stakeholders that have been developed at national, regional and municipal levels, the workshop will explore the pros and cons of deepening stakeholder engagement in climate assemblies.

Workshop

April 10, 2024

Workshop on Climate Assemblies Commissioned by Civil Society

What is behind the emerging trend of climate assemblies commissioned by civil society organisations? Do they face different challenges than the more familiar government-commissioned assemblies?

Other KNOCA Event

March 5, 2024

KNOCA Innovation Market 2024

Tuesday March 5th 2024, we organised another of our popular KNOCA Innovation Markets to explore ideas and practices that could influence the way we run climate assemblies in the future. See the recording and download the presentations here.

Workshop

February 21, 2024

Workshop on Children and Young People

Globally, young people are demanding urgent climate action and a voice in climate governance. Recognising the climate crisis as a child rights issue, this workshop will serve as a platform for children, young people and adults involved in citizens' assemblies to share their experiences. Participants will also review and discuss a draft of KNOCA's new guide on youth participation in climate decision-making.

Workshop

February 1, 2024

Workshop on Systems Thinking

What is the role of systems modelling in climate assemblies? How can climate assembly organisers help to facilitate systems thinking among assembly members? Can systems approaches, including modelling, support learning, deliberation and decision-making towards national sustainability goals?‍

Workshop

January 17, 2024

Workshop on Hearing Unheard Voices

Climate assemblies make recommendations with profound long-term impacts on humans yet to be born and nonhuman nature. But these affected constituencies are typically not participants in the assembly’s deliberations and collective decision making. What would it mean for future generations, other living beings and ecosystems to have voice within climate assemblies? Is it desirable or even practically possible?

Learning Call

December 14, 2023

Learning Call on Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly

Ireland's fifth national assembly, the Citizens' Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, marks a unique approach, unparalleled anywhere else in the world, that makes extensive use of citizens' assemblies. It's the first of its kind to focus on government responses to biodiversity loss, and is paralleled by the pioneering Children's and Young People's Assembly, which made a significant contribution to the process.

Workshop

November 22, 2023

Workshop on Challenging Environments

In regions of intense social and political polarisation, organising climate assemblies presents unique challenges, such as dealing with misinformation and threats. This workshop, co-hosted with DemNet, brought together experts and stakeholders to share lessons learned from managing assemblies in these complex environments.

Workshop

October 31, 2023

Workshop on Permanent Climate Assemblies

The trend in Europe of mostly ad hoc climate assemblies is evolving, with some cities exploring permanent assemblies for climate governance. A FIDE-led workshop discussed the experiences of Brussels, Milan and Paris in this shift, focusing on the benefits and challenges of institutionalising permanent climate assemblies.

Learning Call

October 11, 2023

Learning Call on UK's People's Plan for Nature

In this KNOCA Learning Call, we looked at why three of the UK's largest charities initiated a People's Assembly and the National Conversation that accompanied it. We explored the hybrid format of the Assembly, combining face-to-face and online sessions, and discussed the responses to the plan and the Assembly from commissioners and various civil society and public bodies.

Workshop

September 27, 2023

Workshop on the Follow-Up to Climate Assemblies

Climate assembly efforts frequently underemphasize the importance of follow-up actions. KNOCA stresses the need for equal focus on both the assembly and its follow-up processes. This workshop contributes to developing KNOCA's guidance on this matter, informed by past experiences and the September 2023 briefing on integrating recommendations into public administration.

Learning Call

September 21, 2023

Learning Call Luxembourg's Climate Assembly

The Klima-Biergerrot (KBR) – the Luxembourg Climate Citizens’ Assembly – was commissioned in 2022 with the explicit intention of influencing the revision of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP). This was the first climate assembly that was so clearly tied to a specific policy making process.

Other KNOCA Event

June 21, 2023

KNOCA's Annual Event 2023

In our Annual Event 2023 we celebrated another year of developing best practice on Climate Assemblies in close collaboration with our network. In a packed program with three separate sessions, we first reflected on the emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities within climate assemblies based on the past year’s research and practice in the field.

Workshop

June 12, 2023

Workshop: Re-Evaluating the Impact Evaluation Framework

This workshop critically examined the effectiveness of the Impact Evaluation Framework 1.0 since its inception. We reviewed its application in different settings and considered feedback from numerous KNOCA members with expertise in evaluation. This framework, developed in early 2022 by the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations (CAST) in collaboration with the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA), was designed to capture the diversity of impacts and support better impact evaluation.

Workshop

May 23, 2023

Workshop on Systems Change

In this workshop, we looked at how citizens' assemblies can address fundamental systemic challenges in tackling global environmental and social crises. This discussion was introduced by a presentation of new guidelines by experts Claire Mellier and Stuart Capstick.

Workshop

May 9, 2023

Workshop on Participants Post-Assembly

In this workshop, we delved into the role and potential of assembly members in driving change after a climate assembly's conclusion, examining examples from across Europe to understand the dynamics and implications of post-assembly citizen-led action.

Learning Call

April 19, 2023

Learning Call on the Polish Citizens' Assembly

The Polish Citizens’ Assembly on Energy Costs took place in October and November 2022, organised independently by the Shipyard Foundation in partnership with the Copernicus Science Center and Polish Academy of Science. This learning call, with organisers and observers of the assembly, considered its objectives, design and impact, including the numerous local civic councils that were organised beforehand to feed into the process.

Workshop

March 30, 2023

Workshop on NGO Playbook

Climate policy community has so far not engaged with the climate assemblies at scale. In this workshop we discuss the challenges and current practices of civil society engagement with climate assemblies.‍Watch the presentation of a draft NGO playbook on climate assemblies, which offers guidance to the climate civil society organisations on the benefits of engaging with climate assemblies and the ways of doing so.

Workshop

March 15, 2023

Workshop on Evidence in Climate Assemblies

This workshop explored a new area of research in KNOCA about selecting and presenting evidence in climate assemblies. It was a first step towards the development of guidance. The format was interactive and offered members of our community a chance to hear initial research results and to share their own questions and reflections.

Workshop

January 31, 2023

Workshop on Inclusion and Disadvantage

The use of random selection and facilitated deliberation is assumed to generate high levels of equity and inclusion. Certainly, the participants in climate assemblies (and other deliberative mini-publics) are more diverse than most other political institutions. But do elements of climate assembly practice lead to disadvantages for particular social groups? Do we need to look more closely at the design and practice of climate assemblies through the lens of equity and inclusion?

Workshop

January 11, 2023

Workshop on Communicating

KNOCA is focusing on the critical yet often overlooked aspect of communication in climate assembly practice, as highlighted in their "Key drivers of impact" project. They have initiated a new project to assess communication strategies within these assemblies, reviewing various activities and resources used. A recent workshop presented preliminary findings from this project.

Learning Call

November 30, 2022

Learning Call on Spain’s Citizens’ Assembly

In June 2022, after 6 weekends of learning and deliberation, the Spanish Citizens’ Assembly for the Climate handed over 172 recommendations to the Prime Minister and Vice Prime Minister. This learning interrogated the motivation, task, organisation and impact to date of the Spanish Climate Assembly, drawing out innovations in practice and lessons for future practice.

Learning Call

November 22, 2022

Learning Call on the Austrian Climate Assembly

In July 2022, after 6 weekends of learning and deliberation, the Austrian Citizens’ Climate Assembly (Klimarat) published its final report with 93 recommendations in response to the task of proposing measures to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. This learning call interrogated the motivation, task, organisation and impact to date of the Austrian Climate Assembly, drawing out innovations and lessons for future practice.

Workshop

November 14, 2022

Workshop on Backcasting

Can backcasting and scenario planning be used within the framework of climate assemblies? If so, what could the process look like? Would it bring new perspectives and recommendations from the assemblies? In this workshop we explored how methods of backcasting and scenario-based planning can be integrated within climate assemblies – and, equally, how climate assemblies might be integrated within backcasting and scenario-based planning processes.

Other KNOCA Event

November 11, 2022

KNOCA at COP27: Governance Innovation on Public Engagement

On November 11, 2022, KNOCA co-hosted a session titled “Governance Innovation on Public Engagement: Learnings from Citizens Assemblies” as part of the Climate Law and Governance Day at COP27. This event, which was part of the UNFCCC 27th Conference of the Parties (COP), took place entirely online. The session, in collaboration with the Grantham Research Institute, LSE, explored the impact and lessons learned from national and global citizens assemblies in advancing climate action.

Workshop

October 3, 2022

Workshop on Governance Structures and Practices

In this workshop we explored how climate assemblies are governed and share experiences and lessons learned about best practice. The legitimacy of deliberative mini-publics, such as climate assemblies, partly depends on the trust policymakers, stakeholders, and the wider public have in the decisions made about their design and implementation. The form and quality of governance structures is critical.

Learning Call

June 8, 2022

Learning Call Transnational Climate Assemblies

The Conference on the Future of Europe gathered 200 citizens from all over Europe to consider climate change and environment, among other issues. This learning call will interrogate the organisation and impact to date of these processes, drawing out innovations in practice and lessons for future developments.

Other KNOCA Event

May 11, 2022

Policy Actors’ Attitudes to Climate Assemblies

How do key political actors perceive the role of citizens' assemblies in shaping climate policy in Europe? What are the perceived main barriers and opportunities for greater use and stronger influence of climate assemblies? How to respond to different forms of reluctance and resistance to climate assemblies among key actors in climate governance?

Other KNOCA Event

April 20, 2022

What is a Climate Assembly? An Introduction

Climate assemblies are increasingly being used in a variety of different European countries at different scales of governance to inform policy responses and social action on climate change. For this reason, KNOCA wants to provide an opportunity for everybody who is curious to learn what the key features of climate assemblies are and what one should consider when initiating and delivering one.

Workshop

March 16, 2022

KNOCA Workshop on Evaluation

Interested in evaluation of climate assemblies? Interested in contributing to the development of KNOCA guidance on evaluation?The OECD has recently published Evaluation Guidelines for Representative Deliberative Processes. This workshop considered whether climate-specific criteria need to be developed for evaluations of climate assemblies that complement these guidelines.

Learning Call

March 2, 2022

Learning Call on the Danish Climate Assembly

The Danish Climate Assembly is the latest in a series of climate assemblies at national level in Europe. What distinguishes the Danish Assembly from its predecessors is that it was organised in two phases and had the task of providing continuous input to the ongoing political negotiations.

Learning Call

January 24, 2022

Learning Call on Finland’s Citizens’ Jury

Finland’s Citizens’ Jury on Climate Action took place in April 2021. It differs from climate assemblies in a number of ways, including its size, duration and remit. The Jury took place over two-and-a-half days and involved 33 randomly-selected citizens. They were charged with assessing the fairness and impact of 14 potential measures to be included in the new national medium-term Climate Change Policy Plan.

Other KNOCA Event

December 16, 2021

Climate Assemblies with Open Government Partners

Climate assemblies are increasingly adopted by national and local governments, particularly in Europe. This is part of the more extensive “deliberative wave” identified by the OECD. The panel discussion will draw on the direct experience of a Danish politician, Scottish civil servant and European civil society actor in organizing climate assemblies.

Learning Call

November 24, 2021

Learning Call on the UK and French Climate Assemblies

To improve and inspire climate assembly practice by giving KNOCA members and others the opportunity to learn about the genesis, preparation, follow-up and impact to date of the first two national level climate assemblies

Other KNOCA Event

November 15, 2021

What Is a Climate Assembly?

Climate Assemblies are increasingly being used in a variety of different European countries, at different levels of governance, to inform policy responses and social action on climate change. In countries that have not yet used such processes, there is a growing appetite to explore the possibility of doing so and to draw on existing experiences and models. For this reason, KNOCA provided an opportunity for all those interested to learn about the key features of climate assemblies.

Learning Call

September 29, 2021

Learning Call on German Citizens’ Assembly

What distinguishes the German Assembly from its predecessors is that it was commissioned by civil society organisations with the primary purpose of influencing the federal election and the government coalition negotiations that follow.

Learning Call

July 6, 2021

Learning Call on Scotland’s Climate Assembly

This first KNOCA Learning Call provided an opportunity for members of the network to find out more about the political context, process design and impact of Scotland’s Climate Assembly and key learnings for public officials, practitioners and civil society organisations.

Other KNOCA Event

June 23, 2021

What Makes a Climate Assembly Work?

An opportunity to discuss emerging findings and set the agenda for KNOCA.‍ This event was aimed at those who have had experience of or a desire to run Climate Assemblies. The event offered participants the opportunity to respond to up to date analyses of learnings from recent European Climate Assemblies, and offer ideas of what KNOCA should be prioritising over the upcoming year.

Other KNOCA Event

June 22, 2021

Why Do We Need to Talk About Climate Assemblies?

‍This event marks the public launch of KNOCA. Relevant for anyone with an interest in the relationship between Climate Assemblies and climate policy.This event was an opportunity to hear from high profile speakers at the forefront of driving the Climate Assembly agenda in Europe and to understand how KNOCA plans to facilitate the development of a shared understanding of best practice for Climate Assemblies‍.