Kicking off the first citizens’ parliament on media and democracy in Slovenia

On Saturday, 15 March 2025,  the first session of citizens’ parliament on media and democracy will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as part of the Horizon Europe project MeDeMAP “Mapping Media for Future Democracies”. Altogether four sessions of the citizens’ parliament will be held, gathering 20 citizens of diverse age, education, gender and other demographic characteristics. Coming from different cities in Slovenia, they will discuss key issues on media system and regulation, media representations and media participation, developing joint conclusions and resolutions which will be presented, in June 2025, to decision makers in media policy and media practices in the country.

ABOUT THE PROJECT AND CITIZENS’ PARLIAMENT 

As part of the MeDeMAP project, which explores the role and influence of media in European democracies, particularly in the context of political participation, the citizens’ parliaments on media and democracy will be launched in March 2025. The parliaments will take place simultaneously in five EU countries – Slovenia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Ireland, with Germany joining at a later stage in the online format. 

Citizens’ parliament is a democratic tool that allows citizens to actively engage in discussions and decision-making on key social issues. While the Slovenian legislation supports organizing citizens’ parliaments at the municipal level, their significance extends beyond that – they provide a space for consultations, debate, and co-creation of solutions among citizens on common issues and challenges. 

Participants in the citizens’ parliament on media and democracy – organized in Slovenia by the Peace Institute – will take part in discussions and come to joint resolutions regarding the media role in supporting citizens’ participation and engagement in democratic processes. The focus will be on how media can contribute to strengthening democracy in Slovenia and ensuring better access to media for citizens.

FIRST CITIZENS’ PARLIAMENT ON MEDIA AND DEMOCRACY IN SLOVENIA 

On Saturday, 15 March 2025, the first of four sessions of the citizens’ parliament will take place in Ljubljana. This initial session will introduce the method of citizens’ parliament and the parliament procedures. Each parliament session will focus on a specific thematic area, with the first session addressing the general theme of “media and democracy”. Within the three themes of the following three sessions – “media system and regulation”, “media and representation”, and “media and participation” – the participants will, at the initial session of the parliament, discuss and develop a list of possible sub-topics for further discussion and resolutions at the next sessions.  

In addition to the participating citizens, each session of the citizens’ parliament will feature experts – ranging from academics, media professionals (editors, journalists, managers) to regulators and law makers in the government – who will introduce the main theme of each parliament session and provide  the Slovenian context. Each session will begin with expert presentations, followed by discussions among participants supported by moderators, and ending with formulating and adopting joint conclusions and resolutions.

PARTICIPANTS AND CONCLUSIONS 

The parliament will be composed of around 20 citizens of diverse age, education, gender and other demographic characteristics.  Coming from different cities across Slovenia, and discussing main themes of media and democracy, they will  jointly develop conclusions and resolutions on main themes which will be presented, in June 2025, to  decision makers in the fields of media policy and media practices in the country. Additionally, the resolutions of the citizens’ parliament in Slovenia will be presented, together with the resolutions of the citizens’ parliaments in  Austria, the Czech Republic, Ireland, and Germany  at the EU level in early 2026.