More on Lord Cragglebury below, but we start with news that the movement to transform politics continues to build as we see the wave of sortition assemblies continue to grow and reach the national level in more places:
- the Austrian Climate Assembly has finished,
- the Spanish Climate Assembly has also finished,
- and a Danish Climate Assembly finished some time ago,
- a civil-society organised national citizens' assembly on energy poverty in Poland is finishing now,
- President Macron announced another national assembly ("citizens' convention") in France, this time on assisted dying,
- the German government has announced a series of national citizens' assemblies, which should begin in 2023,
- we have heard that there will be a climate assembly in the Netherlands commissioned by the Dutch government, also in 2023.
So it's sortition assemblies everywhere - even more so at the local and regional level, such as in Spain (in Tolosa, in Gipuzkoa, and in the Balearic Islands), in Switzerland (Zurich), in Hungary (Budapest - and video), Italy (Milan) and too many local assemblies in the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and Australia to mention them all... follow us on Facebook to find out more!
Perhaps the US is even seeing some more sparks of interest:
- The Petaluma (California) assembly has gone well,
- our friends at Democracy Without Elections have told us Santa Cruz is also looking to hold a citizens' assembly,
Meanwhile here at the Sortition Foundation we are:
- helping run many assemblies ourselves,
- seeking new Independent Directors to advise on our direction and work,
- showing up in force at the Democracy Network Annual Conference in December in London, and
- collaborating with several groups to launch a permanent House of Citizens - which we aim to see replace the House of Lords (we also now have a new paper outlining how that might work).
And soon you should hear this:
"Hello, I'm Lord Cragglebury and I sell wine and yachts..."
Which we think is one of the more memorable lines in our House of Citizens campaign launch video that is coming soon!
Best wishes and we hope you all have a safe and happy festive season.
From all of us at the Sortition Foundation:
Ayesha, Brett, David, Hannah, James, Keith, Nick, Rich, Roz, Sarah, Sonia, Steph and Tom.
P.S. thanks for your ongoing support! To help us build the movement to transform politics faster, become a Friend of the Sortition Foundation now!