Democracy in the Nordic countries is strong, but it cannot be taken for granted. Increasing negative polarisation, declining trust and complex societal challenges mean that we need to develop new ways for people to participate in the decisions that affect their lives. That is why we need more methods that enable residents, politicians and civil servants to meet in deeper, knowledge-based and constructive conversations.

Nordic Deliberation is a Nordic partnership that brings together leading actors in deliberative democracy and democratic innovation. The partnership consists of organisations from Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Its purpose is to accelerate the Nordic development of deliberative democracy. By sharing knowledge, methods, experiences and data, we can raise the quality of participatory processes across the Nordic region.

Digidem Lab is a co-founder and the Swedish partner in Nordic Deliberation. Our role is to contribute experience in participatory democracy, digital tools, process facilitation and democratic innovation. Our work enable people to influence the decisions that shape their everyday lives, and we see deliberative processes as an important part of the democratic infrastructure of the future.

One concrete format that has emerged within Nordic Deliberation is our international Learning Calls – digital, thematic conversations where practitioners, researchers, decision-makers and partner organisations from the Nordic and Baltic countries come together to share experiences and develop methods within deliberative democracy.

Nordic Deliberation is therefore both a partnership and an ambition: to make the Nordic region a stronger place for democratic renewal, where more voices are heard and where difficult societal issues can be addressed through knowledge, trust and shared responsibility.

Fact box

The OECD defines deliberative democracy as a model of governance where broadly representative groups of randomly selected citizens weigh evidence, deliberate to find common ground, and develop detailed recommendations on complex policy issues to help guide public authorities.