2024: MANTA Mini-publics and other new forms of participation in civic education

The Erasmus+-funded project was coordinated by our CPDC partner Democracy Centre Vienna, and implemented jointly with other organizations and schools from Austria, Germany, and Croatia.

As part of the project, teaching and learning materials for teachers and students on (deliberative) democracy were developed, tested in multiplier events, and published. The focus was on deliberative democratic instruments, particularly on citizens' councils. These are an important tool for democratic and fact-based decision-making, yet have previously been widely neglected in political education. This finding was confirmed by a questionnaire survey among teachers conducted by the IKF at the beginning of the project (2023), which also identified the need for corresponding materials.

The IKF's primary task within the consortium was to develop a compendium as a comprehensive resource with important background information on deliberative democracy and citizens' councils for teachers, (older) students, students, and the interested public (PDF Download). Based on three case studies of citizens' councils implemented in Austria, the central questions of these "mini publics" were addressed – such as the representativeness and diversity of their composition, the rules of decision-making, and the direct and indirect effects of citizens' councils.

All materials developed in the project are available in German, English, and Croatian and will remain permanently available on the MANTA-Website of the Democracy Centre Vienna.