CONTEXT
The European Commission’s Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy (CC-DEMOS) has developed a three-level training offer (basic, advanced, Training of Trainers) to strengthen citizen engagement in public policymaking. The advanced level is part of this wider package and contributes to the Commission’s priority on a “Free and Democratic Europe”.
Delivered online via the EU Academy and moderated in several languages, the advanced course builds on a piloted and refined programme and provides public administrations with structured support to organise meaningful co-creation and deliberative processes. It offers a complete set of knowledge, tools and techniques for designing, implementing and following up participatory processes based on co-creation and deliberation. The material is informed by real-world case studies and practical examples, with the aim of fostering creativity, innovation and mutual learning among public administrations.
Key Figures
Learning Objectives
At the end of the advanced training, participants will be able to:
- Understand the full cycle of citizen participation processes, from design to follow-up, in different administrative contexts.
- Select and adapt co-creation and deliberative methods according to objectives, target groups and local constraints.
- Plan key operational aspects of a participatory process (recruitment, facilitation, online and offline participation, use of results).
- Use the coursebook and online resources as practical toolkits to respond to their own institutional needs and share experiences with peers.
Training Modalities
The advanced training is fully online and hosted on the EU Academy platform. It combines:
- Ten modules and coursebook – covering the main stages and components of co-creation and deliberative processes grouped into foundation and specialisation packages.
- Self-paced learning – interactive content, readings, additional resources and self-assessment activities in each module.
- Collaborative spaces – forums to introduce oneself, exchange questions and practices from across Europe, and engage with course materials.
- 4 Live sessions of 3 hours each, in addition to an onboarding and check-out sessions – to deepen course content, practice methods, work in groups, and interact with the moderation team.
- Certification – mandatory final activities per module leading to an EU Academy certificate of completion.
“The experts are great and I got answers for my questions. The atmosphere was welcoming and relax so anyone could talk and ask questions easily. This was really a 5-star course.”
“I really enjoyed the live sessions and reading/hearing about the different experiences of the fellow participants from across Europe in the group chats/forum”.
“What I liked the most were the materials and the additional resources provided. I also found the practical case studies illustrating the different lessons very useful. The way the lessons are structured and navigated also felt dynamic and intuitive to me.”