Seminars

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

Thursday 17 July 2025

Speakers: Cristina Leston-Bandeira (Professor of Politics at the University of Leeds and Chair of IPEN), Jonathan Murphy (Head of Programmes, INTER PARES) and Juliet Ollard (Senior Research and Engagement Officer at the University of Leeds, on secondment from the UK Parliament Select Committee Public Engagement Team)

Chair: Alisson Bruno Dias de Queiroz (e-Citizenship Program Coordinator at the Brazilian Federal Senate and IPEN Executive Team)

Details: In this IPEN seminar, Cristina Leston Bandeira and Juliet Ollard will reflect on their journey developing a suite of eight Guides on Citizen Engagement for Parliaments, in partnership with INTER PARES. Jonathan Murphy will reflect on the role this type of guides can play.

The Guides draw from research and case studies from around the world and aim to provide a framework and practical tools for parliaments to implement effective and meaningful practice in public engagement.

Cristina and Juliet will present the key features of these guides and reflect on the opportunities and challenges they’ve encountered in developing such a wide ranging suite of guides.

The eight Guides are:

• Principles of parliamentary public engagement
• Parliament as a space and place
• Petitions and citizens’ initiatives
• Youth engagement
• Public consultations
• Education programmes
• Deliberative engagement
• Engaging underrepresented groups

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 Research Retold.

16 July 2025

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.

This ‘check-in’ will focus on the recent decision by the Scottish Parliament to agree the next steps towards institutionalising deliberative practices through the use of People’s Panels, and the work behind the scenes in Parliament to achieve this.

There will also be an opportunity for others to give updates on their practice and research.

The ‘check-in’ is chaired by Chris Shaw (Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons, and IPEN Executive Team) 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 about how to register can be found in our MS Teams space.

Find out more about the network.

Image by Ewa Urban from Pixabay

22 May 2025

Speakers: Dr David Martin Wilson (Clerk of the New Zealand House of Representatives: ‘Clerk of the House’); Stephen Fujiwara (Principal Council Officer, Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales) , Jessie Halligan (Principal Council Officer, Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales) & Kara McKee (Principal Council Officer Legislative Council, Parliament of New South Wales).

Chair: Dr Sarah Moulds, University of South Australia and Deputy Chair of IPEN

Details: This IPEN seminar will focus on how the Parliament of New Zealand and New South Wales Legislative Council have managed high levels of submissions from the public in connection with public engagement exercises around legislation.

In early 2025, the highly contentious and sensitive issue of changing the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, raised by ACT Party Leader David Seymour MP, prompted an unprecedented wave of public submissions to its Parliament. This coincided with huge Māori protests in New Zealand opposing the proposed changes. Inside the Parliament, extra staff were employed to vet more than 300,000 responses to the Seymour proposal, leading to questions about how to deal with such large volumes in the future. Clerk of the House Dr David Martin Wilson will speak about how the New Zealand parliament managed this experience, and how it intends to approach ‘managing the submission surge’ in the future.

In the second part of the seminar, Stephen Fujiwara, Jessie Halligan and Kara McKee will discuss their experiences managing parliamentary inquiries with thousands of submissions and substantial public interest in the Parliament of New South Wales. Drawing upon three case studies (relating to inquiries concerning reproductive health care, voluntary assisted dying and birth trauma), the speakers will examine the logistical hurdles associated with receiving, reviewing and considering thousands of submissions, managing heightened public and media expectations, and the strain placed on small secretariat teams with limited resources.

Taken together, these insights will be relevant to parliaments around the world struggling with the challenge of ‘managing the submission surge’ whilst continuing to encourage and value public engagement with parliamentary business and processes.

Images:

1. New Zealand Parliament building. Image by Squirrel_photos from Pixabay.

2. Parliament of NSW, Sydney, Australia. Photo by J Bar at the English-language Wikipedia. License: CC BY-SA 3.0.

13 May

If you have joined the International Parliament Engagement Network in the last six months or so, you should have received an invitation to attend one of our ‘Welcome to IPEN’ sessions on 13 May.

These informal sessions provide members who have recently joined with an opportunity to find out more about IPEN and to meet other new members of the network.

Each welcome session will include introductions, with a chance to ask questions and to share ideas and suggestions. Representatives from IPEN’s Executive Team will also attend to give a quick overview about the network and outline some of the resources and opportunities open to members.

If you have recently joined IPEN and haven’t yet received an invitation, please email us for more details at [email protected].

Find out more about IPEN membership and how to apply.