Foresight #4
on Reimagining Democracy

Across Europe we see divided nations and communities and how citizens feel left behind. Many experience that they have few opportunities to influence their own lives, as well as opportunities to influence the development of society. Involving those concerned is a key component when designing sustainable solutions to the societal challenges of today. 

In Social Innovation Foresight #4 on Reimagining democracy, 1 September, we reflected on and explored the problems of democracy and suggested different ways forward.

What are the main democracy issues? How can different actors and organisations empower citizens and assure that we give high quality access and voice to people in the margins, to the excluded or forgotten? How can research and innovation help to address the current challenges for democracies? How important is community involvement and empowerment for social innovation and for democracy? What different innovative ideas, alternatives and models are there? What can we achieve when involving a diversity of perspectives, from all sectors and target groups in society, in designing solutions for tomorrow? How can we reimagine democracy?

Listen to keynote Swati Banerjee, (PhD) Professor and Program Convenor at the School of Social Work, Centre for Livelihoods and Social Innovation at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai, 
Katja Reppel, Head of Unit Directorate-Generale Research and Innovation (RTD) at the European Commission and,
Gorka Espiau Idoiaga (PhD) the Director at the “Agirre Lehendakaria Center for Social and Political Studies”. 

The talk was moderated by Erin Cory, Assistant professor and senior lecturer at Malmö University.