Citizen´s Assemblies, a new wave of citizen´s engagement in Europe

Dr. Alina Averchenkova is a Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics and a visiting Senior Fellow at the Royal Elcano Institute. With extensive experience on climate change and international development, Alina’s current work focuses on climate change governance and legislation around the world and capacity building and advisory to governments, parliaments, and international organisations on these issues. She is a founding member of the Knowledge Network on Climate Assemblies (KNOCA). Her experience includes international consultancy KPMG, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, a carbon asset manager First Climate and the Environmental Defence Fund. Alina holds a PhD in Economics and International Development from the University of Bath.

BSc. In Geology, University of the Basque Country (Spain), Msc. and PhD. in Oceanography, University of Southampton (U.K.). Has lead and collaborated in many projects, both at national and international level being specialized in sedimentology and morphodynamics. Is author of multiple scientific and technical national and international publications, as well as of many technical reports and international congress presentations. At present leads the value assessment of the different technological assets developed within the organization, being responsible of the transference of technical and scientific knowledge to the private and public sectors. Is member of the Basque Environmental Advisory Council of the Basque Government , of the Committee of experts of the UNESCO Chair for the Reserve of Urdaibai and permanent member of the board of the Spanish Port and Coasts Engineers' Conference.

Doctora en Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales. Profesora Titular de Universidad de la UPV/EHU, departamento de Economía Financiera I Profesora titular de la Facultad de Economía y Empresa - Sección Gipuzkoa. Experiencia académica universitaria de 30 años en Grado y Postgrado. Sus áreas de especialización son la contabilidad, la auditoría de cuentas y el ámbito de la Administración Pública. Es miembro de la Comisión de ADE Dual y tutora de prácticas en empresa. Así mismo, ha sido miembro de la Comisión Académica del Master de Gestión del Deporte (2018-2022) y, actualmente es Subdirectora Académica de los Cursos de Verano de la UPV/EHU. ORCID iD: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6688-2323

Cristina Monge is a political scientist, professor of sociology at the University of Zaragoza, advisor to Ecodes and senior advisor to LlyC. Her areas of interest are sustainability and democratic quality, and especially governance for the ecological transition, an issue she is working on in research centers such as Globernance, BC3 and itdUPM. She is the author of 15M: A political movement to democratize society (2017), and co-author of Hackear la Política (2018), and The Social Initiative for Mediation of Water Conflicts in Aragon (2019). In addition, she is co-editor of the collection More Political Culture, More Democracy, and political analyst for El País, Cadena SER, Infolibre, and RTVE.

Cristina Linares Gil es Doctora en Medicina Preventiva y Salud Pública por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Actualmente desarrolla su actividad profesional como Científica Titular y Codirectora de la Unidad de Referencia en Cambio Climático, Salud y Medio Ambiente Urbano de la Escuela Nacional de Sanidad en el Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Forma parte del Grupo de Trabajo II del VI Informe de Evaluación del IPCC en el campo de “Impactos del Cambio Climático en la Salud Humana”; ha sido Lead Author del capítulo sobre Salud y Cambio Climático de la Red “Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change” que ha recibido el Premio Norte Sur del Consejo de Europa 2020; autora en informes científico-técnicos de Naciones Unidas (UN Enviroment) y la Organización Mundial de la Salud. Ha sido Coordinadora del Grupo de Expertos en la primera Asamblea Ciudadana por el Clima de España.

Francisco Heras Hernández es biólogo ambiental por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (1985) y doctor por la misma universidad con la tesis “Representaciones sociales del cambio climático en España: aportes para la comunicación”. En la actualidad desarrolla su actividad profesional en la Oficina Española de Cambio Climático, centrado en temas relativos a los impactos y la adaptación al cambio climático. Entre 2001 y 2016 fue coordinador de Educación en el Centro Nacional de Educación Ambiental. Desde 2004 coordina el seminario permanente “Respuestas desde la comunicación y la educación frente al cambio climático”. Es autor de numerosos libros y artículos sobre comunicación, educación y participación ambiental, así como sobre la percepción social y la comunicación del cambio climático.

Co-founder with Yago Bermejo of Deliberativa, an organisation that advises governments to design and implement deliberative processes involving citizens chosen through civic lottery, and promotes deliberative democracy. Co-author with Ernesto Ganuza of the book "La democracia es posible. Sorteo cívico y deliberación para rescatar el poder de la ciudadanía" ("Democracy is possible. Civic lottery and deliberation to reclaim the power of citizens" (2020, Ed. Consonni). She is a member of FIDE (Federation for Innovation Democracy - Europe), Democracy R&D, Innovative Citizen Participation Network of the OECD and KNOCA. In a previous life she designed and activated crossovers between the arts and other fields of production. She is still closely following the project she created together with Idoia Zabaleta and Ixiar Rozas, Borradores del futuro (Drafts of the future), a collection of stories that imagine the future of existing alternatives. Graduated in Political Science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux (France). Holds a Master's degree in Arts Management from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Lives in Bilbao.

Dr Oliver Escobar is Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at the School of Social and Political Science of the University of Edinburgh; Academic Lead on Democratic Innovation at the Edinburgh Futures Institute; Co-director of CRITIQUE (Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought); and member of the National Expert Group on Digital Ethics. He is co-investigator in the projects European Smart Urban Intermediaries and Distant Voices, and a former director of What Works Scotland. Oliver works on participatory and deliberative democracy, with a focus on political inequalities and the governance of the future. He combines research and practice to develop social and democratic innovations across various policy and community contexts. He recently co-led the research programme for the Citizens’ Assembly of Scotland and is on the Stewarding Group for Scotland’s Climate Assembly. Oliver’s work has been shared in seventy publications, including the Handbook of Democratic Innovation and Governance, and over fifty training courses on public engagement for students and practitioners across the public sector and civil society. Before academia, Oliver worked in literature, radio, retail, fishing, and construction.