Participedia School
Participedia Schools are intersectional, interdisciplinary, and international, democratic education spaces co-created by the Participedia community for students, practitioners, educators, government, and global civil society. Each Participedia School explores democratic innovations in a unique way, with new partners, in cities around the world.
Join one of our next Participedia Schools:
Democratic Innovations in Latin America: Social Movements, Indigenous Peoples and Traditional Communities
July 27-31, 2025 | Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Social movements, Indigenous peoples, and traditional communities, across Latin America and its diaspora, creatively craft democratic innovations in response to democratic deficits, authoritarianism and state violence, environmental extraction, and the realities of (neo)colonialism and imperialism. These evolving practices, grounded in community-driven knowledge and needs, remain underrepresented, dispersed, and marginalized in the ecosystems of democratic thought and practice.
In collaboration with McMaster University, University of Montreal, Toronto Metropolitan University, Concordia University, University of Alberta, the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, the Brazilian Political Science Association, the Brazilian Association of Graduate Studies and Research in Social Sciences, Democracia en Red, Extituto: Demo.Reset, Observatório de Protocolos Comunitários, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, People Powered, International IDEA, Democracy International, Federal University of Viçosa, and Agência de Iniciativas Cidadã, Participedia School on Democratic Innovations in Latin America (July 27-31, 2025) will help mobilize these knowledges through a consortium of thought and practice leaders. Registrants will undergo problem-based co-design pedagogy that brings together students, scholars, and practitioners for inclusive, intersectional, and international dialogue, collaboration, and exchange. Together, we will explore how existing grassroots initiatives can successfully drive inclusive and just democratic practices.
- Create a collaborative space to foster global, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary exchange between students, scholars, and practitioners from around the world, while engaging with democratic practices emerging from Latin American communities.
- Explore local knowledges alongside and in connection with global perspectives, focusing on Latin American democratic practices through community-led workshops and co-design projects.
- Raise awareness and bridge knowledge gaps, deepening our understanding of democratic innovations among practitioners, organizations, academics, and students worldwide.
- Promote internationalization and research, networking, and policy skills among indigenous and non-indigenous students, scholars, practitioners, and community leaders, training the next generation of leaders.
Week Overview
What: This Participedia school will explore Latin American democratic innovations through themes of (but not limited to): rethinking democracy from below; collective resistance and intersectional struggles; Indigenous peoples, land, and climate justice; advocacy, autonomy, and co-governance; and technology, decolonization, and radical imagination. It will feature a community day (July 27) to engage with local organizations practicing democracy followed by four days (July 28-31) of in-class programming. The curriculum will include panels of renowned guest speakers, expert-led discussions, collaborative case studies, and problem-based learning. The curriculum will be accredited by the Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
When: July 27-31, 2025
Where: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Who: Indigenous and non-indigenous students, early career scholars, practitioners, community leaders, Participedia researchers, and professionals whose work can be enhanced by learning about and engaging with Latin American community-led democratic innovations through co-design and knowledge exchange processes. This program aims to host 50 in-person participants. We strongly encourage you to apply ASAP to secure your spot. All prospective registrants will be contacted on a rolling basis at the end of January and February confirming your registrant spot.
Fee Schedule: Due to Brazilian regulations, there is no registration fee for this event.
Digital Democracy: Exploring New Forms of Democratic Representation, Participation, and Governance
August 11-15, 2025 | Tsinghua University in Beijing, China and the International University of Japan in Minami Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
Intelligent and digital technologies have emerged as a major force in reshaping democratic institutions and public governance worldwide. Currently, over ten cities are piloting digital local democracy or participatory initiatives across China. To understand these innovative practices, examine emerging issues and tensions in the development of public digital infrastructures, and identify areas of improvement, we are pleased to announce Participedia School on Digital Democracy: Exploring New Forms of Democratic Representation, Participation, and Governance (August 11-15, 2025). The Participedia School program will span over 40 hours across 4 days, and two countries (China and Japan).
- Empower the Next Generation of Researchers: Offer aspiring scholars and practitioners in digital democracy an immersive experience, engaging with the latest innovations, research, and real-world applications in the field.
- Explore Emerging Challenges and Opportunities: Examine key issues arising from recent digital democracy initiatives, such as creating E-forums to foster greater public participation and enhance the quality of deliberative processes. The program also delves into how digital tools can expand and reimagine traditional electoral representation frameworks.
- Foster Innovation and Collaboration: Identify critical gaps and opportunities for collaboration in addressing pressing challenges, including combating digital fraud, ensuring equitable access, and enhancing trust and transparency in democratic systems.
Week Overview
What: This Participedia School will explore digital democracy through themes of AI and democracy, digital participation, digital deliberative democracy, algorithms in democratic oversight, public digital infrastructure, democratic integrity, and technological safeguards against digital fraud. It will span over 40 hours across 4 classroom days. The curriculum will also encourage students to utilize Participedia’s case repository.
When: August 11-15, 2025
- August 11-12, 2025: Tsinghua University in Beijing, China
- August 3, 2025: Travel
- August 14-15, 2025: International University of Japan in Minami Uonuma, Niigata, Japan
Who: Graduate students, faculty, community leaders, local government officials, Participedia researchers, and professionals whose work can be enhanced by deepening understanding and engagement with digital democracy. The program aims to host 80 in-person participants, with additional attendees joining online. In addition to regional based registrants, we have space for up to 20 self-funded international participants.
Fee Schedule:
$300 USD to be paid by March 2025
Past Participedia Schools
Participedia Schools involve iterative process design rooted in design thinking. Review learnings from past schools by downloading summary reports below.
Transnational Democratic Innovations
2024 | Cape Town, South Africa & St Johns, Canada
In partnership with McMaster University, Memorial University, the Coady Institute, Memorial University, Politics and Urban Governance (PUG) Research, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Missions Publiques, Democracy International, and Innovation for Policy Foundation, Participedia School on Transnational Democratic Innovations (June 10-15, 2024) was hosted simultaneously by Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. With two decentralized sites, this transnational event brought together more than 110 students, faculty, practitioners, researchers, and facilitators to share, listen, design with, and learn from, one another. Together, we created a global ecosystem of learning to explore the transnational involvement of individuals or groups from multiple countries in political processes, decision-making, design, or advocacy that transcend national borders and issues. New innovations, theories, movements, policies, and successes are happening around the world, and Participedia School 2024 explored these transnational participatory processes, methods, and tools seeing uptake. Centering intersectional and interdisciplinary exchange, we came together to co-design transnational democratic innovations and the theory and practice of democracy across borders.
Download the Summary Report Here
Radical Democracy
2023 | Vancouver, Canada
Hosted with partner Simon Fraser University’s Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi), the CERi-Participedia Summer School on Radical Democracy (June 4-10, 2023) centered the theory and practice of radical democracy to explore themes of power and disruption, Indigenous governance, creativity, and care. The school brought together leading experts, researchers, graduate students, community leaders, activists, and practitioners for a week of workshops, discussion, dialogue, community events and field trips. Students joined from the social sciences, including political science, political philosophy, media and communications, sociology, cultural studies, anthropology, economics, environment and related disciplines. Together, with the summer school team and invited guests, we explored what it means to radically re-imagine, research, and practice democracy in their communities and in everyday life.
Download the Summary Report Here