We are a leading reference in the global movement of democratic innovation.

Deliberativa is a non-profit association founded in 2020 by Yago Bermejo (Madrid) and Arantxa Mendiharat (Bilbao) with the aim of strengthening democracy through citizen deliberation.

We accompany governments and institutions of all political colors in the implementation and expansion of deliberative practices and their integration into the political system.

We work with mini-publics (Panels, Juries, Assemblies and Citizen Conventions) implemented at different levels of governance (municipal, regional, state, European and global). Our commitment is to improve all institutional scales, promoting deliberative democracy at both local and global levels.

Equipo

Co-Founders

Yago Bermejo Abati

Yago has a degree in Physical Sciences. He has worked in teaching and projects in the cultural and technological fields. For more than 10 years, he has been focusing on citizen democracy projects.

He began his career in this field in 2012 with digital hybrid participation projects in social movements and political parties. From 2015 to 2019 he led a laboratory of democratic participation in the Madrid City Council, in coordination with the open government area and the platform Decide Madrid. During those years he was part of the design team and coordinator of G1000 Madrid and the City Observatory (first permanent deliberative body).

In 2019 they co-founded Deliberativa. Since then, they help design and execute multiple processes of citizen deliberation. He is particularly interested in transnational deliberation. He has been heavily involved as part of the core design and coordination team in the Future of Europe Conference, the Next Generation European Panels, and the Global Assembly on Climate Emergency.

Arantxa Mendiharat

Arantxa holds a degree in Political Science from the Institute of Political Studies in Bordeaux, France, and a Master’s degree in Cultural Management from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

Initially, her career focused on the design and management of cultural projects linked to social transformation. In parallel, she has promoted and participated in networks that empower citizens, and has explored democratic models that include the civic lottery.

In 2019 she co-founded Deliberativa. Since then, she has been dedicated to the co-design, implementation and promotion of citizen deliberation. She is particularly interested in developing processes at local, regional and state level, adapted to specific social and cultural contexts.

She is co-author with Ernesto Ganuza of the book La democracia es posible. Sorteo cívico y deliberación para rescatar el poder de la ciudadanía (2020, Ed. Consonni) and is a member of the Advisory Board of FIDE – Federation for Innovation in Democracy Europe.

Collaborators

Victoria Solé

Victoria graduated with honors in Sociology from the Complutense University of Madrid in 2021, with a final project focused on the participatory component of democratic quality.

The following year she completed the Master in Ethics and Democracy at the Universitat Jaume I and the Universitat de València with a Final Paper on citizen deliberation and sortition, awarded with the prize of the axis of alliances of the SDGs for the 2030 Agenda.

She is currently developing at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Florence her doctoral thesis on the political feasibility of sortition, with special attention to Citizens’ Assemblies.

She collaborates with Deliberativa in the development of the methodological guide for the European Horizon CLIMAS project.

Susan Lee

Susan Nakyung Lee is a sociologist and deliberative process designer based at Stanford, California.

She has worked at the Global Assembly and the New Frontiers Project, which seeks to push the development of deliberative democracy in three areas (hard problems, Global South and institutionalization).

Her research interests include the role of public administration in democratic innovation and organizational change.

She collaborates with Deliberativa in prototyping methodologies for global deliberation at the World Citizens Assembly Lab.

Collaborations

We work with an extensive network of collaborators who join us in the different projects we have underway.

The profiles are very diverse: people with training and/or experience in political advocacy, communication, participation, deliberation, facilitation or scientific journalists to organise content provision for Citizens’ Conventions.

If you want to be part of our team, do not hesitate to contact us.

Advisory Committee

Óliver Escobar

Óliver Escobar, born in Xove, in the Luguese Mariña (Galicia, Spain), is Professor of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland). It works on new governance, citizen participation, the economy of the commons and democratic innovation.

He has contributed to 23 mini-publics, including 4 climate assemblies, as a coordinator, designer, facilitator, trainer, researcher, advisor or in governance roles. Its training program in participatory process design and facilitation of dialogue and deliberation has had 950 participants since 2010.

His publications include the books Public Dialogue and Deliberation (2011), the Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance (2019), and forthcoming Climate Assemblies: New Civic Institutions for a Climate-changed World (2025).

More information here.

Ernesto Ganuza

Sociologist at the Institute of Policies and Public Goods of the CSIC and co-founder of Antígona procesos participativos.

His research has focused on democracy and the mechanisms that can contribute to improve its practice. He was the driving force behind the first deliberative surveys carried out in Spain (2007 and 2008) and has organized various mechanisms of democratic innovation from Participatory Budgets to Citizen Juries or Citizen Assemblies.

Co-author of the book Democracy is possible. Civic lottery and deliberation to rescue the power of citizenship. , 2020, Ed. Consonni.

Networks

Delib

Deliberation & Democracy

Iberian Network of organizations and individuals that encourage and promote deliberative democracy
Created in 2023 by Deliberativa, it brings together more than 100 individuals and organizations from the Iberian Peninsula to share experiences and generate standards of good practices.

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Democracy R&D

Created in 2018, it includes more than 180 members from all continents, meeting face-to-face once a year in a city around the world.

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FIDE

Federation for Innovation in Democracy Europe

Created in 2021, it promotes deliberative democracy mainly in Europe and the United States. Deliberativa is a member of its Board of Directors.

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KNOCA

Knowledge network on Climate Assemblies

Created in 2022, it generates and exchanges knowledge on Climate Assemblies. Deliberativa has intervened in several sessions of KNOCA sharing its experience.

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OECD Innovative Citizen Participation Network

Created in 2020, it regularly shares OECD initiatives in the deliberative field.

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