In the face of a challenging time for European cohesion and democracy in Europe, we need to come together to prove that European ideals can reach beyond the corridors of Brussels and are relevant to every single European in their day-to-day lives. With the project Democracy Alive, the European Movement creates several spaces to bridge the gap between citizens and our representatives and to reinforce trust and optimism in the European project. So far, this initiative has given rise to the first European Democracy Festival in 2019 and the Democracy Summit in 2023.
Goals
- Encourage the engagement of Europeans in democracy
We create spaces where citizens, stakeholders, and our elected representatives can come together and engage on the important issues of today; be it on the environment, opportunities for the young, employment, human rights and/or the rule of law. - Fostering a community of active citizens
We are creating a community where activists from across Europe can come together and take action to defend, strengthen and promote European democracy. In 2019, our Action Center provided a platform for active citizens where they could find support for their initiatives, from human resources to donations, promotion to networking.
Key events
DEMOCRACY ALIVE Festival – 10-13 April 2019
Over 3 days the Democracy Alive festival hosted more than 170 events such as interviews with some of Europe’s biggest political names including Michel Barnier and Margrethe Vestager, panel discussions with experts and activists, comedy and music. Over 30 organisations hosted events in satellite venues and pavilions. Local food trucks and live music were also part of the festival village to create a community celebrating and promoting European democracy. At a challenging time for European cohesion, the festival also served to increase voter turnout in the 2019 European Parliament elections by promoting the #ThisTimeImVoting campaign.
Learn more about the festival on demfest2019.democracyalive.eu.
DEMOCRACY ALIVE The Brussels Summit – 6 June 2023
In 2023, Democracy Alive is back in the EU bubble with its first Democracy Summit in Brussels. Throughout the day, political leaders, policymakers, academics, social partners, NGOs, and organized civil society exchanged views on the state of democracy in Europe and strategised how to best counter the threats faced by the EU. Learn more about the event here!
Partners and Donors
This first iteration of the project was co-funded by the European Parliament and the Open Society Foundations. Since 2023, Democracy Alive activities have been co-funded by the European Union’s (EU) Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) programme.
