On 23 and 24 June, Turin will host the Transnational Assembly, a key moment of the Ways of Europe project. The initiative will bring together participants and young ambassadors from across Europe in a process of dialogue aimed at transforming the work carried out over the last two years into proposals and recommendations addressed to policymakers.

A central feature of the event will be the participatory Assembly model adopted for the occasion. Already tested in several contexts, it represents one of the most interesting practices in the field of democratic participation. The goal is not only to discuss issues and ideas, but also to experiment with structured, inclusive forms of dialogue oriented towards collective decision-making.

According to the organisers, this methodology could become not only a useful tool for the project itself, but also a practice to be expanded and strengthened at the institutional level. At the same time, the Assembly aims to provide participants with a concrete experience of active citizenship.

We discussed this with Luciano Scagliotti from Àltera.

In Turin, you will be implementing a model of transnational participatory Assembly that has already been tested in other contexts. What does this method involve in practical terms, and why did you decide to include it in the Ways of Europe project?

The method is that of deliberative democracy, adapted to the specific circumstances and scale of Ways of Europe. We will bring together a diverse group of people from different EU countries and structure the work in three phases: balanced expert inputs from researchers, activists, and scholars; facilitated discussions in small groups; and the co-creation of shared recommendations. Within the project, the Assembly aims to bring together the concerns and perspectives collected across Europe—following the stages in Brussels, Lampedusa, Calais, Budapest, and Barcelona—into a single space for collective reflection and deliberation.

You have described this as a tool that could also be “institutionalised.” What does that mean? Do you think practices of this kind could become a permanent part of public decision-making processes?

It means creating stable, regulated, and permanent channels through which the recommendations of citizens’ assemblies have a mandatory impact on the political agenda of institutions, both local and European, rather than remaining isolated events. Such a process reduces the distance between institutions and civil society, transforming participation from a “concession” into a democratic necessity.

The Assembly will also serve to transform two years of project work into recommendations for policymakers. How important is it today to create spaces where people can participate directly in shaping proposals?

Creating these spaces is vital for democratic resilience, especially in a context marked by political and cultural polarisation, declining trust in institutions, and shrinking civic space. Building pathways for proactive reflection and for understanding the complexity and interconnectedness of current challenges, with the aim of formulating actionable proposals, demonstrates that democracy can genuinely be participatory, inclusive, and representative. Ultimately, it is about restoring people’s political agency over the choices that shape the future of our societies and of the planet.

For those taking part in the Assembly, can this experience become a tool that they can apply elsewhere? What kinds of skills or forms of awareness do you hope participants will gain?

The Assembly is conceived as an incubator of practices. Participants will experience a working method that can be transferred to their own contexts, from community organisations and neighbourhood initiatives—where democracy begins in everyday spaces—to local and national governments. Beyond technical skills, we hope to strengthen an intersectional and critical perspective, capable of recognising the connections and systemic nature of discrimination and oppression, while fostering the development of a transnational democratic outlook.