Case

Democracy Garage

The city's meeting place and workshop for democracy and participation in the heart of Copenhagen Northwest. In the garages, where there used to be a blacksmith and car repair shop, we are now experimenting with new formats of democracy.

Background

No one can solve big challenges alone. Everyone’s brains, hands, voices and innovation are needed to design more and better democracy to help shape our shared future. In ever-growing cities, there is increasing pressure for gathering places where we can come together across actors, life experiences, age and vantage points.

Task

Democracy Garage is an attempt to reintroduce the idea of a community center with a democratic purpose, located in the heart of Northwest, a rapidly developing neighborhood.
We Do Democracy has been the initiator of the Democracy Garage, which was created to facilitate meetings and conversations across local citizens, community actors and sectors.

In 2020, we took over the old industrial buildings in Copenhagen. Northwest, which previously housed a blacksmith and auto repair shop. Today, the idea is that in the same buildings, we are overhauling democracy. Democracy Garage is a democratic workshop where we invent, develop and test new formats of democracy and rethink and innovate existing ones. We test how different actors working with democracy in different ways can collaborate and coexist under the same roof to strengthen each other and their democratic purpose.

Solution

In addition to being the initiators of the Democracy Garage, designers of the concept and partnership structure, We Do Democracy has been responsible for developing the content program and establishing the Democracy Garage as a non-profit umbrella organization across public actors, civil society, activists and entrepreneurs.

Follow Demokrati Garage and see their many activities, offers, opportunities and solutions at https://www.demokratigarage.dk/