First Meeting of the Permanent European Peoples’ Assembly

Dear friends!

Today, 27 September 2024, 200 randomly selected citizens from all across Europe and beyond come together in Athens to form the first European Peoples’ Assembly. For three days, they are in Athens to participate in discussions that will shape the future of democratic participation in Europe. A diverse group of individuals gathers to share ideas, exchange views, and collaborate.

The whole assembly is live streamed online and can be watch here (also after the event):

Watch and subscribe the livestreams: https://linktr.ee/ourdemocraticodyssey

At the centre stand two questions:

“Reflecting on your experience of recent crises, what needs to change for Europeans to overcome future storms? And, how can we, the people, help better steer the European ship?”

This is how it will go:

Through a series of facilitated group discussions, enriched by artistic expressions, they will work together to explore meaningful answers and potential solutions to this pressing issue.

The assembly does not end in Athens. 

For the next year, assembly members will work together online and in two in-person sessions  in Florence and Vienna. Embedded in the local public, it also features a public democracy festival and strong collaboration with Athenian civil society.

The goal is to make this assembly permanent, continuously travelling through Europe, involving new members. It is prepared, not predetermined by the Democratic Odyssey group of civil society actors outside of the institutional power struggles that governed previous assemblies like the Conference on the future of Europe. The Democratic Odyssey strives to amplify people’s voices and rebuild trust. Watch our webinar preparing the assembly here.

As Europe Calling in the Power to the People group we have been co-organizing this assembly, spreading the word and building transparency, so today is a historic day also for us.

Join the assembly here in the livestream and, if you are in Athens, join us on Saturday evening from 19:00 Greek time for the Democracy Festival on Klafthmonos Square!

More information, including here: https://linktr.ee/ourdemocraticodyssey 

With European greetings from Athens,

Maximilian Fries for Europe Calling

P.S.: After the assembly, we will organize a public webinar to report and have space for your questions. You will receive an email as soon as we have a date for that!