A motivated team of about 15 people around the initiatives Respekt.net, IG Demokratie and mehr demokratie! Austria started the project “Future Council for Democracy” some time ago. The core of the project is the 1st nationwide citizens’ council for the further development of democracy in Austria.
Around 20 participants, randomly selected and invited from all over Austria, will meet and deliberate on September 18 & 19, 2021 in Salzburg.
The Future Council in Austria is facilitated with Dynamic Facilitation. Stefan Schartlmüller, one of the initiators, explains: “We are deeply convinced that we will achieve the best results for improving democracy with Dynamic Facilitation. Because DF simply makes possible what we as humans are fundamentally capable of: Listen, talk to each other, think with each other, and finally develop unanimous solutions together to preserve the common good.”
The project is non-partisan and aims to reach as many people as possible through various channels and media. Ultimately, it is about the self-image that all people affected by political decisions can jointly shape the rules for the politics of the future.
Accordingly, the project is primarily financed via crowdfunding. Fortunately, the funding threshold has already been reached, so that the Citizens* Council will take place in any case (subject to the Corona situation).
“However, in order to comprehensively meet our own quality standards, it would be wonderful if the fundraising pot would fill up even further,” Schartlmüller wishes, “In addition to the logistical costs, we would still like to invest, for example, in the best possible documentation, organize childcare for the weekend, pay an expense allowance to the participants and ensure good scientific monitoring. Additional funds are needed for this.”
Anyone who still wants to get involved in the crowdfunding can do so until July 31, 2021 and thus contribute to making the Citizens* Council even more powerful. Both private individuals and companies are welcome to participate; more information can be found here.
The Future Council team is also happy to answer any questions you may have by e-mail at office@zukunftsrat.at or by phone at +43 699 1811 6683.
Regular info calls and other events are published on a daily basis at www.zukunftsrat.at.
