In a unique collaboration between the utility company Novafos and Egedal Municipality, We Do Democracy will conduct a citizens’ assembly with a focus on climate adaptation, where a representative group of citizens in Egedal will be the politicians’ closest advisors and find the balance in how all parties in the municipality can best adapt to future water.
The green transition and adaptation of our society to future energy supply, water supply and increasingly extreme weather is dependent on public acceptance. Without citizen participation in the solutions, we will not only experience increasing resistance to the specific transition projects, but the solutions may also deteriorate. Without citizens’ everyday expert knowledge and ability to see across sectors and needs.
For several years, climate adaptation in Egedal has been a source of intense and sometimes heated debate. How do you find the balance between the many considerations? At the launch meeting of the “Egedal Citizens’ Assembly – together for the future of water” in June 2024, 400 citizens had signed up. At the launch of the citizens’ assembly in the fall of 2024 and spring of 2025, all citizens over the age of 16 in Egedal will be invited to participate and 36 citizens will be selected to reflect Egedal in gender, age, education and place of residence. The participants will be asked to find the balances as the municipality transforms and adapts Egedal for the benefit of people, nature and the environment. We Do Democracy will be the independent third-party secretariat of the citizens’ assembly and ensure that the process lives up to the OECD deliberative principles for good citizen participation.
Follow the citizen collection here, at Novafos