Citizens Tree Assembly
Citizens Assemblies are used worldwide as a mode of 'deliberative democracy' where a problem is debated without the outcome being predetermined beforehand. One organisation, 'Involve', brings people together, usually with facilitators and expert leads over 2 - 4 weekends, to understand and arrive at a consensus over complex issues such as road pricing. The 'gold' standard would be an assembly at national level known as sortition; such a formula was used in Ireland to decide what should be the country's position on gay marriage and abortion. This is the type of deliberative forum preferred by Extinction Rebellion for discussing climate change; further information, including a podcast can be found on their website. Citizens Assemblies can also compliment representative democracy, especially at a time when our representatives spend more time resolving conflicts within their own parties, ignoring those who elected them. If we are serious about the climate