Nesta hails pioneers tackling ‘democractic malaise’

Earlier this month, innovation foundation Nesta announced its 19 ‘Democracy Pioneers’, who each received £10,000 for their work to improve people’s understanding and experience of democracy in the UK.

The announcement comes at a time of declining trust and participation in civic life, with recent data from the Office of National Statistics showing that 61% of people in the UK are dissatisfied with democracy.

Nesta says the 19 Democracy Pioneers provide an antidote to this ‘democractic malaise’ with their visions for improved civic participation.

The Pioneers include:

Shout Out UK (SOUK): Based in London, Shout Out UK is a non-partisan social enterprise that helps young people to get politically literate, helping schools to teach students about democracy in cost-effective ways.

Glasgow City Council: Glasgow City Council are using mini-publics, an assembly of citizens that are demographically representative of the larger population, to deliberate on climate policy and decide on the allocation of budgets (participatory budgeting). By using more inclusive methods, the council is committed to ensuring climate issues feel more local and interpersonal.

Full Fact: Based in London, Full Fact is at the forefront of fighting misinformation. The team of independent fact checkers and campaigners find, expose and counter the harm bad information does – to lives and to our democracy. They work to ask people to correct the record when they get things wrong, develop new technology to counter misleading claims, and campaign for better information in public life.

Say Yes to Tess: SYTT is a new musical theatre production based on Tess Seddon’s real life experience of standing in the 2017 UK General Election as a 30 year old state-educated female from a small Yorkshire town. Say Yes to Tess (SYTT) asks audiences to imagine a fully representative democracy and their role in its transformation.

Carrie Deacon, director of government and Community Innovation at Nesta, said: ‘All democracies are complex, imperfect systems. We need to ensure we keep upgrading our democracy.

‘We are excited that we can recognise and celebrate the bold experimenters working tirelessly to re-energise and reimagine civic engagement.

‘These quiet revolutionaries are important actors reviving our democracy, but their work can all too often be overlooked. Nesta’s Democracy Pioneers award is only one step in recognising this crucial work. We want to support experimentation in this field, and work to mainstream the best approaches to ensure our democracy remains fit for the future.’

Read more about the Democracy Pioneers here.