Researcher Interview #4: Kaisa Schmidt-Thomé explains how our Democracy Workshop creates new space for dialogue

You are leading the establishment of the Democracy Workshop within the Material Democracy project. Could you tell us more about what it is about?

Within the project, we are building the Democracy Workshop, which will serve as a unifying platform for participation practices related to the sustainability transition. The idea is to bring together both research-based knowledge and practical experiences from different forms of participation and influence. The Democracy Workshop compiles materials and examples, and also provides a space for discussion – and in the future, possibly for experimentation as well. In the early years, this means both an information hub and discussion channels: we share research findings through blogs and on LinkedIn, and we organize events – including virtual morning coffees, which have now started. You can subscribe to email reminders for upcoming morning coffees.

Why is the Democracy Workshop being built, and for whom?

The Democracy Workshop is being built because the sustainability transition is such a broad and multidimensional process that its success requires the involvement of diverse actors – not just formally, but in ways that are genuinely impactful. Yet there is no single guide or “cookbook” for meaningful participation. Instead, knowledge needs to be collected from those involved in participatory practices – both the “chefs” who prefer different recipes for participation and the actors invited to take part in various arrangements. Our core target group is therefore those who use and organize participatory approaches in their work, whether in public administration or the NGO sector, as well as in universities and companies. Behind this lies a bigger question: how can democracy be strengthened, and how can sustainability transitions advance in a legitimate way?

Does the Democracy Workshop have role models?

Yes, we have clear role models. One of the most important is the UKERC Public Engagement Observatory run by the University of East Anglia. It is a pioneering platform that has mapped and analysed participation practices in the energy transition and biodiversity enhancement. It has been developed by the Science, Society and Sustainability Research Group (3S) at the University of East Anglia, which has conducted long-term research on these themes. The observatory is grounded in strong academic analysis and systematically compiles different participation practices in the UK. Our project researchers recently visited to learn more about their long-term work, and we agreed that at the beginning of 2026 we will launch a similar mapping and analysis process in Finland, guided and mentored by Professor Jason Chilvers’ research group.

What might a Finnish application look like?

In the Finnish context, we want to create a platform that strengthens a legitimate sustainability transition and supports the feeling that change is indeed happening. Our aim is that participation generates new shared insights and understandings that help move the transition forward in a fair and impactful way. In Finland, we envision a workshop that is both research-based and openly accessible to practitioners. In other words, we do not want to merely document and analyse forms of participation, but also to create a space where citizens, officials, civil society organisations, and researchers can meet and share their experiences.