Philipp Verpoort

Associate

Philipp is an Associate of the Sortition Foundation based in Berlin. He currently advises the German parliament on participant recruitment and related statistics for the upcoming citizens' assemblie(s). He is a physicist, scientist, and otherwise works as a researcher on energy systems at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

Philipp joined the Sortition Foundation in 2017 and has since been involved in numerous projects. One of his first successes was the establishment of the Greater Cambridge Citizens' Assembly — a project that required extensive exchange with the local authorities in Cambridgeshire, which was recognised with the Vice-Channcelor's Social Impact Award of the University of Cambridge in 2020. He has since taken up many other projects within our organisation, including our collaboration with the Democracy R&D network, and developing parts of our statistical software suite (especially GroupSelect). From October 2018 to September 2021, Philipp was one of the co-directors of the Sortition Foundation, and he continues to make many valuable contributions to the organisation.

Philipp believes that deliberative mini-publics like citizens' assemblies can help enable a rational and evidence-based public discourse, which leads to better policy decisions and allows us to overcome populism, polarisation, and general distrust in democracy.