Advocates for assemblies came together in a ground-breaking event in October 2024, organised and hosted by the Real Democracy Movement. At Assemblies: the way forward, people who have theorised, supported and organised assemblies around the UK met under the same online roof for the first time.
On the seven-person panel were John McDonnell MP, Dru Haynes, chair of Citizens Assembly South Tyneside, Jamie Driscoll, former mayor of North Tyneside, Zakhar Popovych, Ukrainian activist speaking from Kyiv, Eva Schonveld, Grassroots to Global, Rich Wilson, CEO Iswe Foundation and Paul Feldman from RDM. A breakout session gave the audience an opportunity to share their insights.
Closing the discussion, RDM co-organiser Corinna Lotz said the event showed a desire “to break away from the present hierarchical, alienating and undemocratic political system and the wider system which it sustains”. Working with a concept of diversity within unity to research, experiment and find ways forward was crucial.
The Real Democracy Movement invites you to share ideas about taking forward the energy, knowledge and inspiration from 2 October. Proposals include online, face-to-face and hybrid events in 2025. Please send your ideas to: info@realdemocracymovement.org
You can also meet and discuss with others on the Work Together for System Change Facebook.
All the panellists’ contributions (6-8 minutes each):
Assemblies: the way forward – feedback
Learning from varied experiences: a wealth of proposals and ideas – participants got together in small groups during the breakout session – read the notes