The Art of Engagement: The Practical Democracy Project

The Practical Democracy Project is back for the 7th event in the series! Join us for this free lunchtime event at the ODI in Leeds. Free tickets available on Eventbrite.

As always, the aim is to bring together government people, tech types and anyone interested in civic society to discuss practical steps for improving democracy and increasing meaningful citizen participation in decision-making. 

The brilliant people at ODI Leeds have agreed to host us and we’re very excited to bring you an excellent line-up of speakers:

• Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira from the University of Leeds will be speaking about Parliament’s relationship with the public and engagement.
• Huw Spencer will discuss The Northern Policy Forum, a successful network for young people aged between 18 and 35 who are interested in policy in the North.
• Roz Davies, Director of Social Inclusion at Good Things Foundation, will talk about the amazing Voicebox Cafés project, which supports excluded women to understand, celebrate and participate in democracy and public life.

The event will begin at 12 and we’ll wrap up the main talks by 1.30pm in case anyone needs to grab a sandwich and head off. For those who can stay, we’ll run a panel discussion to give you a chance to ask further questions of any of the speakers and to open up the conversation to the room.

Event schedule

12:00 Doors open

12:15 Introduction from Delib

12.20 Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira, University of Leeds

12.35 Huw Spencer, Northern Policy Forum

12.50 Roz Davies, Good Things Foundation

13.10 Short break

13.15 Ben Fowkes, Delib

13.25 Panel discussion with all speakers

Put March 7th in your diaries and come along for some interesting talks, discussions and a sandwich. Lunch, tea, coffee and stellar conversation will be provided.

This event is part of the Practical Democracy Project, a series of events organised by Delib dedicated to looking at how technology can best be used to make everyday improvements to the democratic process – with a particular focus on policy-making at local and central government levels.

Through this series, we are mapping out how to create the best democratic experience for citizens in a practical way. We also aim to establish the optimal user-journey for government officials, policy-makers and elected officials, recognising that democratic processes are always a two-way street, and must work for both citizens and government to be effective.

For more info or to suggest ideas for the day, drop us a line on Twitter: @delibthinks