Online multilingual deliberation platform with integrated deliberative tools

With the rise of ICT technologies in the last decades, online elements have become increasingly central in the field of participatory and deliberative democracy, offering new perspectives in the design and implementation of participatory and deliberative processes. The use of ICT has provided several advantages to initiators of participatory and deliberative processes, for instance, in terms of inclusion of some fringe of the population (especially youth), or of scalability of the process (in regard to the number of participants in time and space), to name but a few. The use of ICT in such processes is also linked to various limitations, such as the inclusion of populations not using internet, or motivating citizens to participate online. 

This document is for the deliverable D3.2 (“Online multilingual deliberation platform with integrated deliberative tools”) of the REAL DEAL project, with the aim of offering a set of digital tools to address online and hybrid deliberative processes in the context of the project.

Building on research findings and the assessment of existing digital tools and platforms for deliberation and participation, the project set up an online platform with integrated tools and formats to support the digital component of the deliberation and participation platform processes which are going to be implemented in the REAL DEAL project. 

The platform has been branded according to REAL DEAL overall design. The platform is reachable from the project´s website www.realdeal.eu and has its own URL https://my.realdeal.eu/, i.e. the title is also clearly associated with the project´s website. 

REAL DEAL is aware of the potential of online deliberative platform, as much as of the possible issues created by these tools (digital divide, limited access in areas without good internet connection (such as in some rural areas etc..). The project will address these issues in the phase of implementation of the platform. 

In term of actual usage, the platform has been adapted to match the action lines of the projects, and especially to support the implementation of some participatory and deliberative processes. REAL DEAL aims indeed to make use of information technology to bridge physical distances in national and pan-European deliberative processes and to support the implementation of physical formats such as focus groups, citizen assemblies enhanced by Delphi procedures, or round tables, to name but a few.

Based on the main requirements stipulated in the grant agreement (multilingualism, open source) and some additional requirements defined in the course of the project (integrative, adaptable, easy to use, scalable, privacy issues), the platform creation has been subcontracted, following a call for tender, with some of the most advanced participation platform providers. 

REAL DEAL has agreed with the Commission Services not to set up a single online platform for deliberation with the sister project; however, the two projects will present their results through a joint online repository, with a common entry point and search function. 

Find out more about the REAL DEAL project