The Consortium supports EU Citizen Panel on preparedness

Since the start of the year, Digidem Lab has been part of an international consortium together with Nexus Institute, DemocracyX, Deliberativa, and Sortition Foundation. We work to strengthen democracy in Europe, and during the spring the consortium has been commissioned to design and facilitate the implementation of the European Commission’s citizens’ assembly on preparedness.

About the EU-Commissions Citizen Panel on preparedness

A part of the EU Commissions democratic mission is to implement Citizen Panels that engage with themes connected to decision making processes. The Commission has established European Citizen Panels as a regular feature of democratic life in the EU. 150 citizens from EUs member states are selected through a stratisfied random selection process. The assembly meets on three occasions to jointly develop recommendations on the topic at hand. The citizens’ assembly, which is simultaneously interpreted into 24 languages, takes place during spring 2026 and focuses on preparedness, following the European Commission’s strategy for a Preparedness Union.

Members of the assembly meet in plenary sessions as well as in smaller groups over three weekends between March and May. During these meetings, they engage with expert knowledge, share their own experiences and ideas, and develop recommendations on how a Preparedness Union should be implemented.

The work of the consortium and Digidem Lab

The European Commission has tasked the consortium with designing the three assembly sessions, which have been developed in close collaboration with the Commission, and with Digidem Lab acting in an advisory role throughout the process. The consortium was also commissioned to provide facilitators for the citizens’ assembly, and Digidem Lab, with its extensive facilitation experience, was selected for this role.

Anna Sanne Göransson, together with consultant Degmo Daar, facilitates two of the smaller groups within the assembly, consisting of citizens from several European countries. This means that both facilitation and group discussions are simultaneously interpreted in real time by professional interpreters. Anna shares her experience from the first assembly meeting in Brussels on March 20–21, 2026:

“I always enjoy facilitating in different or multiple languages, and at the EU level it becomes even more remarkable since everything is simultaneously interpreted across the 24 official EU languages. In my room, we had four languages, and it felt almost magical to see people from Spain, Germany, Sweden, and France speaking to each other in their native languages. We ended by thanking the interpreters for creating such a magical experience.” – Anna Sanne Göransson.

Read more about the consortium’s assignment on the project page, and learn more about the European Commission’s citizens’ assembly on preparedness here.