This year, The Youth Cafe is sending a delegation of five people to attend the Democracy R&D Annual Conference in Berlin from 28 to 30 September 2022. The conference is organized by the Democracy R&D network in collaboration with the following German partners: Bertelsmann Stiftung, nexus institute, Mehr Demokratie e.V. and Technische Universität Berlin. The Open Society Foundations will provide financial support for travel and accommodation. The Bertelsmann Stiftung will be in charge of registering and managing participants.
Once a year, deliberative democracy experts from around the world come together to exchange ideas, disseminate knowledge, meet new people, and renew existing relationships at the Democracy R&D Annual Conference. The Youth Cafe is attending the conference courtesy of our membership with Democracy R&D. On the 19th of January 2022, The Youth Cafe got admission as the newest and only member in East and Central Africa to Democracy R&D. The Youth Café was interviewed on the 10th of January 2022 and on behalf of the coordination group, David Schecter, proposed The Youth Café as a new organizational member of Democracy R&D, where the proposal was met with no objections.
The Youth Cafe has involved itself in democratic endeavors on several occasions. For instance, The Youth Cafe used the Youth Jury to validate The Kenya Youth Manifesto. The Youth Cafe sent out applications for participation in the validation process. This attracted 131 applicants from across the eight regions of Kenya, and through the selection process, 24 applicants were shortlisted. The Youth Jury selection process involved a stratified random selection.
This method was fundamental to a Kenya Youth Manifesto Validation Jury and was as random as possible whilst maximizing diversity. The democratic role of the Kenya Youth Manifesto Validation Jury hinged upon gathering together a sample of jurors who were demographically representative of the broader community. Thus demographic representativeness by reference to salient demographic features of lineage, educational background, and gender was the overarching principle. This principle was implemented using a random selection process to ensure an objectively fair and unbiased selection of the jurors.
The Kenya Youth Manifesto (KYM) 2022 is a product of concerted efforts by various stakeholders, the youth, and youth political and civic leaders from different regions (8 regions) in Kenya, being at the manifesto's core. The Youth Cafe, the International Republican Institute (IRI), and several stakeholders and strategic partners were instrumental in ensuring the manifesto came to fruition. The Kenya Youth Manifesto 2022 project was shepherded by The Youth Cafe (TYC-Kenya) with key stakeholders' active support and participation, including representatives of civil society, business, academia, relevant government agencies, and the media.
Under the annual theme “Innovating Deliberative Democracy - Inclusion, Impact & Institutionalisation!", we will focus on three thematic streams: political buy-in (how to convince decision-makers to initiate deliberative mini-publics, ensure follow-up and institutionalization?), inclusive participation (how to prevent mini-publics from reproducing structural inequalities, and how to ensure a connection with the broader public?) and democracy in (times of) crisis (what are the fundamental challenges to democracy today and what potential or limits does deliberative democracy have in the context of these challenges?). On the third and final day, training sessions will be organized as part of our ‘Deliberative Democracy School.’
Berlin has been chosen as the location for the conference. Berlin has a long history of protest, revolution, and standing up for democracy. It was the central point for the ending of the cold war and the collapse of communism. In 2019 Berlin was the location for the final conference of a nationwide landmark citizens’ assembly. For the first time, 160 randomly selected Germans came together to discuss policy changes for the future of democracy. Policy recommendations were handed over to the President of the Bundestag. This pioneering exercise has triggered many more deliberative democracy initiatives in Germany.
The first two days of the conference will take place in Bertelsmann Repräsentanz Unter den Linden. The building is located at the beginning of the iconic Unter den Linden Road in the center of Berlin. From here, many famous Berlin landmarks like the museum island and the Berliner Dom, as well as the Brandenburger tor, are within walking distance. On the afternoon of the second conference day, there will be the opportunity to meet with German politicians in the Bundestag. The Bundestag is the historic building that houses the German Parliament, located not far from the Bertelsmann building.
On the evening of the second day, a garden party will be held at the nexus institute. The institute is in the ‘Villa Morgenroth, which was initially built in 1911 for the physician Julius Morgenroth. It is located in the suburbs of Berlin, about a 40-minute train ride from the Bertelsmann Repräsentanz. The house is one of the most beautiful in Dahlem and is located close to the botanical garden and many lakes and forests.
The deliberative democracy school on the third day will take place at the Technical University of Berlin. The Technical University is centrally located in Berlin, not far from the Tiergarten and the Berlin Zoo.
Open Society Foundations will fund the Democracy Conference. A maximum of 1,250 € per person for people traveling from outside of Europe and a maximum of 750 € per person for people coming from within Europe will be provided. Bertelsmann Stiftung handles the registration platform and participation management.
