About People’s Assemblies

People’s assemblies are a structured way for a group of people to share thoughts and feelings, discuss problems and generate solutions collectively. The structure facilitates participation and inclusion – all voices are heard and valued equally and no one person or group are able to dominate the process (everyone is listened to and everybody listens). People’s assemblies work to build trust, community and connection, whilst facilitating participatory and deliberative democracy. 
 
The process starts with an information stage, where people can listen to and question experts or people active in a particular field (for the food season these were a local farmer/grower, an organic food supermarket owner and a district emergency food coordinator).
 
Small groups of people interested in a specific question/aspect of this topic gather together to discuss ideas in a facilitated way and answer a question related to the topic. This stage where everyone is invited and encouraged to take part is relaxed and managed by a facilitator and a note taker.
 
In the feedback stage everyone gathers together to hear all the groups’ ideas, which have been noted and agreed. People may suggest ways to put some into action locally.
 
The results are fed back to Lewes District Council, who consider the ideas in their policy-making, as part of community representation.
 

Get in touch at

Useful information

Lewes Climate Hub YouTube channel

Climate Emergency Centres YouTube channel

Examples of People’s Assemblies elsewhere:

Newham’s independent Democracy and Civic Participation Commission, established in 2019, examined innovative ways in which local residents could have opportunities to be more engaged and involved in local decision-making and the Council’s work. One of the recommendations of the Commission was the development of a Permanent Citizens Assembly. The recommendations were approved by Newham Council.
Some examples of their themes were:
 

Greening the Borough
“How can we work together to make our parks and green spaces even better for residents and visitors? How do we ensure that everyone has access to quality green spaces?”
The Assembly produced a set of recommendations and the Cabinet outlined a response to each of those recommendations.

15 Minute Neighbourhoods
“A 15 minute neighbourhood will have accessible and inclusive transport links that are sustainable long term, allowing people who live in the borough to access the everyday services they need via cycling, walking and other forms of public transport that is inclusive of the needs of residents and affordable.”
The Assembly produced a set of recommendations and the Cabinet outlined a response to each of those recommendations.