Citizens’ assemblies boost climate action
Theme: Tech & Democracy
It has been called a democratic innovation and a renewal of the democratic system. Researchers at KTH have studied how the City of Gothenburg has used citizens’ assemblies to involve residents in the municipality’s climate and environmental efforts.
“In a citizens’ assembly, the group is given a question and a societal challenge on which to develop proposals. Finland, Denmark and France have done a great deal of work on this in the areas of climate transition, infrastructure and transport. These are issues that are contentious, complex and lack simple answers. The idea is to harness the collective intelligence found within a diverse group,” says Karin Bradley, Professor of Urban and Regional Studies.
Reflects the population
As part of the Mistra Sustainable Consumption research programme, Karin Bradley and researcher Pernilla Hagbert have studied how the City of Gothenburg, as the first municipality in Sweden, organised a citizens’ assembly in the spring of 2024 to guide how the city should involve residents in its climate and environmental work.
“We were interested in seeing whether this is a relevant way of working. Can this type of democratic approach strengthen the capacity for transition?”
Citizens’ assemblies differ from traditional public consultations and citizen dialogues in urban planning processes in that the group is assembled to reflect the wider population.
“The problem with many citizen dialogues is that those who show up are often well-educated, have strong opinions and tend to be middle-aged men who are used to expressing their views. This means that many perspectives are missed,” Bradley says.
Citizens’ assemblies are also based on deliberative democracy. Participants go through a process where they familiarise themselves with the issue to be discussed, gain in-depth knowledge, listen and develop solutions together.
Observed and interviewed
In Gothenburg, 7,000 residents were randomly invited to take part in the citizens’ assembly. Out of 180 registered expressions of interest, 40 people were selected after answering questions about their education, gender, age, neighbourhood and their views on climate and environmental issues, so that they would reflect a ‘mini-Gothenburg’.
The participants met over three full days and a follow-up day. The researchers attended the citizens’ assembly meetings as observers and interviewed organisers, officials from various parts of the municipality, and politicians on the relevant committees.
A broader perspective
Research on citizens’ assemblies in other countries shows that diversity provides a significantly broader perspective on the issues and that the proposals put forward by the assemblies are often more radical than current policy.
“The City of Gothenburg has set some fairly ambitious climate targets, and one of the things the council said was: “In principle, we’re ready, so just tell us what to do. Guide our daily lives and plan how we are going to achieve these goals”. They felt that politicians often tiptoed around too much,” Bradley says.
The citizens’ assembly also put forward specific proposals, such as that the City of Gothenburg should stop allocating land for fossil fuel infrastructure, as the city’s environmental and climate targets stipulate that it should not be dependent on fossil fuels.
“It’s quite radical, and I think it is difficult to implement. However, there are also examples from other countries showing that residents are more open to change than one might think if they are given the opportunity to seriously think about an issue, listen, discuss, and really work with it.”
Continue working
At least two of the proposals from the citizens' assembly have been taken forward. The City of Gothenburg will continue to work with citizens’ assemblies. Environmental Administration has also been given the mandate to develop its communication to citizens on what they can do to help achieve the climate targets, which has led, among other things, to a communication campaign on sustainable lifestyles.
”Our research provides insights into the role that this type of policy test can play in decision-making, and whether and how it strengthens transformative capacity. What we can see is that it is important to clarify how proposals from citizens’ assemblies are to be handled and what mandate the assemblies have. It is a tricky balancing act. In one sense, it can be beneficial to give the citizens’ assemblies a fair amount of freedom to define the issues and perhaps even allocate a budget to implement proposals, but at the same time this implies significant uncertainty as the proposals can turn out to be highly problematic,” Bradley says.
Text: Sabina Fabrizi ( sabina@kth.se )