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All over the world, citizens and decision-makers increasingly turn to deliberative democracy to break national political deadlocks. From the Irish constitutional convention to the French Convention on Climate Change to Hong Kong’s residents calling for a citizens’ assembly, there is a growing appetite for forums designed for ordinary citizens to come together, learn about complex issues, and exchange reasons to think about solutions for the common good.Can it happen here? Australia has been an early adopter, but the ill-fated Citizens’ Assembly on a carbon tax marks a singular failure thus far to scale deliberative practices to the federal level.This hour-long panel discussion offers lessons from OECD countries and the Global South and invites reflections about the role, opportunities and limits of these national forums in Australia. PANELLISTSClaudia Chwalisz, OECDNicole Curato, Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance, University of CanberraBeth Slatyer, Canberra Alliance for Participatory DemocracyDamian Carmichael, Department of Industry, Science and Innovation MODERATORSimon Niemeyer HOSTCentre for Deliberative Democracy and Global GovernanceUniversity of Canberra CONTACTEmail: delibdem@canberra.edu.auTwitter: @DelDemUcanWebsite: deldem.canberra.edu.au

Experts on democracy and sustainability share their insights, from both research and practice perspectivesAbout this eventDespite the urgency and scale of global environmental threats, many democratic states are struggling to act swiftly on problems such as climate change and biodiversity loss. At the same time, the resurgence of authoritarianism in many countries – often with an anti-environmental streak – is seen by many as threatening progress towards sustainability.In this webinar, a panel of researchers and practitioners will discuss prospects and pitfalls for democratising sustainability transformations in light of current developments in global politics. The session builds on findings from a recent review of research on the nexus between democracy and sustainability published in the Earth System Governance journal.The panel will commence with an overview of the article by Jonathan Pickering (University of Canberra) and a critical commentary by Julia Tschersich (Utrecht University), followed by reflections from two practitioners: Melani Gunathilaka (Climate Action Now Sri Lanka) and Rafael Jimenez Aybar (Westminster Foundation for Democracy). The panel will be moderated by Wendy Conway-Lamb (CDDGG, University of Canberra)The webinar is co-convened by the Earth System Governance Project’s Working Group on Democracy and the Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance at the University of Canberra, and forms part of each network’s regular speaker/seminar series.