A pioneering new deliberative democracy project invites university students, faculty and administrative staff to develop transformative measures to future-proof their institution against social and environmental challenges. Reintroducing deliberation into education and beyond, argues Émilie Frenkiel, could bridge the representative disconnect between citizens and institutions
In his foundational blog for this series, Luca Verzichelli appealed for scholars to make the ‘leap of imagination’ necessary to fix the disconnect in contemporary democratic representation. A groundbreaking project in Paris is doing just that.
Since 2021, the University of Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) has organised an annual Student Citizens’ Assembly on a different theme. The Assembly involves students alongside teaching and administrative staff, partners in a deliberative process lasting several months. Deliberation culminates in recommendations aimed at transforming the university to face current social and environmental challenges. Between 2021 and 2025, five assemblies involved about 2,400 students.
Over time, the scheme has become institutionalised. It is now recognised by UPEC's council, committees, services, and student parliament, and contributes to UPEC's broader project to build a university committed to social and environmental transformation and justice. Alongside other initiatives, the Assembly helps reduce the university’s carbon footprint and foster a fair ecological transition. Its success has aroused the interest of national and local authorities, associations, and other universities.
The Assembly follows the French Citizens’ Assembly on Climate which decides collectively, in a democratic and fair way, on public policies and lifestyle changes to keep our planet habitable.
The co-construction of the Assembly began in October 2020, during lockdown. About thirty students on the Global Politics Master’s programme at the Institute of Political Studies of Fontainebleau adapted the Citizens’ Climate Assembly for use in a university setting. In seminars on Global Health and Environment, and Democracy and Citizen Participation, students met experts in participatory mechanisms, defined the Assembly’s principles and decision-making processes, and pre-selected speakers.
2020's lockdown restrictions ruled out an in-person meeting, but this meta-deliberation phase formed the basis for later assemblies. From 2021 onwards, a governance committee of students, alumni, and academics has designed each new edition, based on participants' recommendations.
Student Citizen Assemblies empower participants to move from passive observers to actors in dialogue with multiple others
In response to students’ feelings of eco-anxiety, isolation, and cognitive dissonance, the Assembly addressed crises of democratic representation, youth engagement, environmental urgency, and inequality. It empowers participants to move from passive observers to actors in dialogue with multiple others.
Ministerial directives, such as the 2022 Climate-Biodiversity and Ecological Transition Plan for Higher Education and Research, have since reinforced the legitimacy of this approach. Environmental issues are now central to democratic debate, and educating students on ecological transition and sustainable development (TEDS) is a national priority. Higher education institutions represent almost half of the State’s public operators. Their significant environmental footprint makes them crucial players in the ecological transition.
The Student Citizens’ Assembly trains students in ecological transition and democratic debate. While traditional courses often rely on passive learning, sustainability and democracy training require new teaching methods. As the French government report co-authored by climate scientists Jean Jouzel and Luc Abbadie notes, all students should acquire knowledge and skills to understand and act on the ecological transition.
The Assembly encourages students to integrate ecological transition principles into their academic and, later, professional lives. Alongside TEDS and climate awareness days, it builds knowledge of climate change and biodiversity collapse. It teaches systemic reasoning and analysis, cultivates foresight, and encourages responsible action.
The Assembly teaches systemic reasoning and analysis, cultivates foresight, and encourages responsible action
Throughout the process, students meet with scientists, professionals, and elected officials. They can also access scientific publications and reports online. Tools such as Hackmd and Decidim support collaborative drafting and discussion. Plenary sessions consolidate the shared knowledge and enable students to translate learnings into proposals for transforming the university and its surroundings.
The Assembly also trains students in democratic values and debate. Amid contemporary polarisation and misinformation, it fosters informed opinions and reasoned argument based on research and respectful dialogue. It promotes listening and mutual understanding among diverse participants, such as students from different disciplines, administrative staff, researchers, community leaders, and local officials.
Participants learn to deliberate collectively, and to formulate proposals at university and territorial levels. They learn that their voice matters but that their work does not always translate easily and swiftly into implementation. Evaluation over several editions has shown that students sometimes struggle to think beyond their individual campuses. UPEC’s fragmented geography (seventeen campuses across three departments) does not encourage an integrated perception of the university. Addressing this remains one of the programme's key goals.
The Assembly’s pedagogical dimension includes the development of a skills framework to help students value this experience professionally. The governance committee works with education researchers to design a participation certificate with a detailed reference framework.
The Student Citizens’ Assembly also has a strong scientific dimension. Initiated by a lecturer in political science, it is a living, cross-disciplinary research field for academics and students. In 2024, UPEC created a research-action chair funded by the French National Research Agency to coordinate doctoral and postdoctoral projects on deliberation, dissent, political socialisation, facilitation, and the use of forum theatre in participatory processes. Findings are shared in seminars and publications, while participation introduces students to field research and reflective practice. UNIDELIB, a network of deliberating universities, has been created.
The Assembly aims to be transformative – for individuals, and for the university and its territory. It builds individuals’ self-confidence, empathy, and critical reflection through a trusted community of discussion. Since 2022, forum theatre has deepened this process, allowing participants to explore deliberation through creative expression. At the institutional level, students’ proposals are presented to relevant actors and authorities to be turned into concrete policies. Through this dual ambition, the Assembly links learning, research, and democratic practice in service of a fair and sustainable ecological transition.
The Assembly links learning, research, and democratic practice in service of a fair and sustainable ecological transition
These experiences also offer a promising avenue for reconnection. By reintroducing deliberation into everyday educational settings, they can help bridge the representative disconnect between citizens and institutions. Systematically embedding deliberative mini-publics across European universities would foster a pervasive democratic culture, cultivate values of dignity, inclusion, and responsibility, and train a new generation of Europeans to act as guardians of democracy and sustainability.
