173 delegates, 21 countries, 30 presentations and workshops

The 2024 Democracy Research and Development Conference took us to two beautiful coastal cities in Canada for five days of learning, connection, and inspiration.

MosaicLab was there to connect with people from around the world who fund, run, study, and advocate for Citizens’ Assemblies. We were also proud to deliver a masterclass on deliberative facilitation (more on that later!).

As active members of Democracy RnD, we’re committed to advancing deliberative democracy and innovation globally. This event is always a highlight on the calendar, and this year didn’t disappoint.

Couldn’t make it to Canada? Don’t worry - we’ve captured the stories, ideas, and faces of the conference to share with you…

“These conversations confirm for us that the deliberative democracy movement is moving into a new era ... we’re pushing into new levels of tech, participant empowerment and impact.”

— MosaicLab co-founder and director Keith Greaves

“Conversations and insights that stood out for me were how we approach fully hybrid deliberations, how we bring in emotional intelligence skill building and finding ways to share further across the practice. Sharing our approach and learning from others is what I love about Democracy R&D.”

— MosaicLab co-founder and director Nicole Hunter

voices from the conference

The conference highlights that we are part of a big, global, deliberative democracy family. The event allows this passionate community to come together and while we all share common goals, we hail from diverse backgrounds and bring many different perspectives.

We wanted to capture some of that magic for you! So, we grabbed some footage with five fascinating delegates we met at the conference and asked them about their journeys into this field.

Think of it as a sneak peek into the conference - no passport required. Ready to meet them?

Rahmin Sarabi, Founder and director of the american Public trust

“My five words to describe deliberative democracy are empathy, relationships, wisdom, connection and possibility. I think this work affords all that and is very meaningful.”

— Rahmin Sarabi, Founder and Director of the American Public Trust

Bailey Flanigan, Harvard university researcher

Wayne Liebman, political activist

Joe Matthews, journalist & Berggruen Institute FELLOW

Karis Bruce, communications associate at SFU CENTRE FOR DIALOGUE

“Strengthening the work through research is something we are increasingly invested in and the opportunity to meet some of our research partners and new research contacts was impactful for us.”

— MosaicLab co-founder and director Keith Greaves

faciltating deliberation MASTERCLASS

We were delighted to be invited to deliver a half-day masterclass on the first morning of the conference on facilitating deliberation with a focus on navigating difficult conversations.

Almost 70 people from around the world attended, including participants from the United States, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, Norway, the United Kingdom, and Nigeria.

Participants were treated to an exclusive opportunity to unpack and practice MosaicLab’s seven steps of facilitating deliberative processes - upskilling in the real practices used and tested by our specialised team.

Participants take part in MosaicLab workshop

The session was led by co-founders and Directors Nicole Hunter and Keith Greaves, and supported by our newest senior facilitator Polly Cameron and included:

insights in MosaicLabs strategic engagement planning codesign processes
sneak peak into some alternate (or similar) facilitation processes
insights into what works and doesn’t in different situations and in difficult conversations
exploration of alternative methods used to achieve similar outcomes

The interactive, participatory session was jam packed with learnings and takeaways, some of them as a result of the group learning from each other. Participants had a chance to hear and share some examples where we have all been challenged and connect with like-minded deliberation facilitators - who can be rare finds out in the wild!