Seminars

22 April 2026

Speakers: Juliane Baruck and Paul Naudascher (founders & co-project leads of Hallo Bundestag)

Chair: Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team)

Details:   In this IPEN seminar, we will hear how the successful Hallo Bundestag initiative is institutionalising a democratic innovation in Germany.

Hallo Bundestag is a project in Germany which explores ways in which diverse groups of people can have their voices heard in politics. It was initiated by the non-profit “Demokratie Innovation e.V.” which has run many lottery-based participation formats as part of its initiative Es geht LOS.

Juliane Baruck and Paul Naudascher will address how Hallo Bundestag will scale a deliberative format on a constituency level that strengthens representative ties between parliamentarians and randomly selected people in their respective constituencies.

Between 2026 and 2028, the project team and a network of implementation partners will organise 50 so-called ‘constituency days’ (Wahlkreistage) in 50 different constituencies all over Germany, engaging over 100 parliamentarians with over 1,200 people from all walks of life.

More information

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

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Participants of Hallo Bundestag from all over Germany have been meeting regularly in Berlin to discuss their experiences and the institutionalisation of the format. Credit: Steffen Krones.

18 March 2026

Speakers: Dr Alice Moseley (Associate Professor in Public Policy & Administration, University of Exeter), Dr Lise Herman (Senior Lecturer in Politics, University of Exeter)

Chair:  Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team)

Details: This IPEN seminar will be of interest to all those concerned with promoting greater public engagement with the process and outcomes of deliberative processes in the current media environment.

Public visibility and democratic legitimacy are essential for the survival of any innovation promoted by parliaments or governments. If such innovations are to be institutionalised, it is vital that they engage citizens beyond their confines and spur deliberation within society at large. To what extent do Citizen Assemblies achieve these aims so far, and how might they be designed with these aims in mind going forward?

In this seminar, Lise Herman and Alice Moseley will use the examples of the French and UK climate assemblies to explore the ways in which the media portrayed them and framed the public discussion of their results. They will draw on a recent study by a team at the University of Exeter which centres on analysis of media output on the assemblies from different angles, including coverage of process, outcomes and potential media bias.

They argue that contradictory media coverage to support and criticise deliberative processes is essential to produce effective public engagement with democratic innovations. This seminar will provide evidential support for this endeavour and an opportunity to share experiences and research from other parts of the world.

More information

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

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Climate Assembly UK, 2020. Photo by Fabio de Paola / PA Wire.

11 February 2026

Speakers: Enock Adomah (Administrator for the Department of Public Engagement, Parliament of Ghana); Sally Coyne (Head of Public Engagement Services Office, Scottish Parliament); Rodolfo Vaz (Coordinator of Digital Solutions for Citizens, Chamber of Deputies, Brazil)

Chair:  Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira (University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN)

Details: This IPEN in-conversation seminar will explore how parliaments organise public engagement services. The seminar is a direct response to a request by one of our new members, who is currently involved in a re-development of their public engagement services.

Public engagement is understood in many different ways across parliaments, with some putting more emphasis on education, others on participation and others still on communications; or a combination of these. This results in very different types of services supporting public engagement activity. This can matter in the way public engagement relates to other activities, such as parliamentary business.

Public engagement services also vary very considerably in size across parliaments. Some parliaments may have one small team that needs to attend to every public engagement need, perhaps keeping everything well integrated and connected – to the detriment of capacity to undertake a high number of activities.

Other parliaments have separate services that address different aspects of public engagement, being able to provide a high number (and often more complex) set of activities – but perhaps resulting more in a culture of silos, where each service does their own thing.

In conversation with Cristina Leston-Bandeira, we will hear from representatives from the parliaments of Brazil, Ghana and Scotland – three different types of parliaments that have organised their public engagement services in different ways.

The in-conversation format will enable us to examine how each parliament has organised their public engagement services, the reasons for this and how effective these structures are in facilitating meaningful parliamentary public engagement services.

The seminar will end with a Q&A and discussion.

More information

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

Images

1. Parliament House (State House) – Parliament of Ghana. Photo by Wgsohne. CC BY-SA.
2. Palácio do Congresso Nacional, Brasília, Brazil. Photo by Cristina Leston-Bandeira.
3. Exterior view of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Photo courtesy of the Scottish Parliament.

20 January 2026

If you are an IPEN member who uses deliberative democracy methods as part of your role in parliament or academic research, you are invited to join us for our next ‘deliberative democracy check-in’.

The aim of this IPEN group is to provide a safe space for those currently planning or involved in deliberative democracy projects to get together to seek advice, share good ideas and generally provide moral and practical support.

The ‘check-in’ is chaired by Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team member) and will take place in MS Teams.

It is open to IPEN members who might be able to offer the benefit of their experience, or who just want to hear more. Full details of the topic for the January ‘check-in’ and how to register can be found in our MS Teams space.

Is your work or research connected to deliberative democracy methods?

If your work or research is connected to the theme of deliberative democracy, you are very welcome to apply to join the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

The network brings together academics, parliamentary officials and third sector representatives from across the world, to promote collaboration and encourage knowledge sharing around parliaments and public engagement.

Find out how to join the network.

Image by Ewa Urban from Pixabay

4 December 2025

Speaker: Stew Sexton (Senior Accessibility Advisor, New Zealand Parliament)

Chair: Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN)

Details: In this seminar, Stew Sexton will outline the integrated approach the New Zealand Parliament has adopted to embed practices that enable accessible and inclusive engagement with Deaf, disabled, and neurodiverse communities. This is part a wider diversity and inclusion strategy that also enables engagement with indigenous Māori communities, ethnic minority groups and young people.

This is founded on an institutionalisation approach which depends on collaboration between the main bodies of the parliamentary administration, the Parliamentary Service and the Office of the Clerk – and through the establishment of permanent staff roles to ensure that engagement of underrepresented groups remains a priority.

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

Image: Parliament House, New Zealand Parliament. Courtesy of Stew Sexton.

18 November 2025

Speaker: Dr Clementine Hill O’Connor (Research Fellow in the Division for Social and Urban Policy at University of Glasgow)

Chair:  Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira (University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN)

Details: In this IPEN seminar, Clementine Hill O’Connor will draw from the findings of her Research Fellowship at the Scottish Parliament to explore the role that ‘lived experience’ plays in parliamentary work, namely in scrutiny processes. By ‘lived experience’ we mean the experience of those directly affected by legislation.

There has been a growth in activity around the methods and approaches that are used to bring a wider variety of people into the work of the Scottish Parliament – a key feature is the role of ‘lived experience’ and the role it plays in scrutiny.

This increased interest in lived experience is mirrored across all levels of government, both national and local, and is an increasingly important component of policymaking processes. It has the potential to address democratic deficits, bringing a more diverse range of perspectives into policymaking, ultimately resulting in decisions that have stronger public support.

It is also understood to bring those directly affected by policy into the process, giving voice to often marginalised group. Understanding the perspectives of those who commission and use evidence from people with lived experience (i.e. the committees) is key to ensuring that it is incorporated in ways that are both effective and ethical.

Clementine will draw on three case studies of processes that incorporated lived experience into the work of Scottish Parliamentary committees and will reflect on lessons learned.

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

12 November 2025

Join Inter Pares and IPEN for the official launch of the Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments – an innovative eight-part resource designed to help parliaments strengthen trust through meaningful citizen engagement.

Speakers: Professor Cristina Leston-Bandeira (University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN); Jonathan Murphy (Head of Program, Inter Pares); Juliet Ollard (UK Parliament); representatives from the parliaments in Germany, Zambia and Italy.

This one-hour event will:

• introduce the new Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments, created through a partnership between Inter Pares and IPEN
• share insights from global experts and practitioners
• highlight real-world examples of innovative engagement practices
• reflect on how parliaments can embed citizen engagement in their daily work

Book your place

The launch event will take place on Zoom on Wednesday 12 November, 14:00-15:00 GMT / UK time; 15:00-16:00 CET.

Booking is required – please register here. You will receive a confirmation and link to the event by email.

Image design by Research Retold

21 October 2025

Speakers: Dr Laura Sudulich (Parliamentary Academic Fellow based at the University of Essex); Professor Cristina Leston Bandeira (Chair of IPEN and University of Leeds)

Chair: Dr Elise Uberoi (Deputy Chair of IPEN and Head of Social Policy Section, House of Commons Library) 

Details: This IPEN seminar will showcase a new accessible global map of public engagement practice. 

The map is the outcome of a two-year research project undertaken by Dr Laura Sudulich as a Parliamentary Academic Fellow at the UK Parliament through its Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology, in partnership with IPEN. 

Hosted on the IPEN website, this interactive map shows how parliaments across the world engage with the public. It displays data on how parliaments share information about their role and activity, educate people about parliament, and the opportunities they offer for further citizen involvement. 

Laura Sudulich will introduce the map and give an overview of how it works, how it was created and how it is intended to be used. Laura designed a questionnaire that was shared with parliaments around the world using various networks, including IPEN. 

Cristina Leston-Bandeira will reflect on how academic research on legislative organisations impacts on the activity of parliamentary officials and the functioning of parliaments. 

One of the aims of this project is to build global connections between parliaments’ efforts to inform and engage the public and those who are involved in them. Through this seminar, participants will find out more about how they can use the map as a resource to identify new connections and learning opportunities.

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

The event follows a formal launch of the map, taking place in London on 25 September.

Find out more about the network.

Image by stokpic from Pixabay.

15 October 2025

Speakers: Professor Jane Suiter (School of Communications, Dublin City University, Ireland); Joanne Caddy, (Senior Policy Analyst, Reinforcing Democracy Initiative, OECD)

Chair: Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team)

Details: This IPEN seminar will explore the established and potential links between deliberative processes and public trust in parliaments and policy making.

It will consider the extent to which public deliberation on proposed policies can improve confidence in the policies themselves and in the institutions – governments and parliaments – responsible for their introduction. The aim is to help practitioners and advocates make the case for greater use of deliberative methods in policy making.

We will hear from Professor Jane Suiter from Dublin City University about the impact of Ireland’s citizens’ assemblies on decisions themselves and on trust in the decision making process.

From the OECD, Joanne Caddy will provide an international perspective on the available evidence base on the relationship between trust in political institutions and opportunities for citizens’ voice – including through deliberative processes – and will flag any gaps to be filled.

Participants will consider the potential benefits of deliberative processes in terms of public confidence, from the perspective of parliamentarians, policy makers and scrutineers.

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

Image: Speech bubbles on window. Courtesy of Involve.

Seminar postponed (new date tbc)

Speaker: Ana Marusia Pinheiro Lima (Supervisor for Relationship and Participation, Chamber of Deputies, Brazil)

Chair: Dr Alex Prior (Lecturer in Politics with International Relations at London South Bank University and IPEN Executive Team member)

Details: This IPEN seminar will focus on the Debates Interativos – an interactive tool used by the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil to expand the channels of citizen participation in the legislative process and strengthen democratic debate.

One of a range of participation and communication platforms, citizens can use the Debates Interativos to interact online with the activities of committees at the time they take place, by sending questions to deputies and guests and voting up questions they deem most important. After the meetings, the entire interactive debate is available on the platform, in order to increase the transparency of decisions.

In this seminar, Ana Marusia Pinheiro Lima will explore the Debates Interativos including how it is used, its advantages and challenges. Marusia will address how the tool allows for diversity of opinions, real interactivity, transparency of the processes involved in the holding of debates and compliance with public and collective interests in moderating the debate, as well as challenges associated with these.

This online seminar will take place in MS Teams and is open to members of the International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN).

Find out more about the network.

Image copyright Câmara dos Deputados, Brazil