Assessment of the Vilnius City Citizens’ Assembly

Project idea

One of the tools of deliberative democracy—citizens' assemblies—is often cited as an excellent way to improve the quality of decision-making, strengthen citizens' trust in the state, and enhance the quality of democracy. This increasingly popular method is used to solve various problems in different political and institutional contexts.

Despite possible differences in the models for organizing citizens' assemblies, all of them emphasize the importance of evaluating the citizens' assembly once it has taken place. Based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for deliberative democracy processes, a timely independent evaluation is important for the confidence of decision-makers, the public, and other stakeholders in the deliberative democracy process and its outcomes, and is closely linked to trust in the recommendations generated during the assembly. An independent external evaluation also enhances the legitimacy of the citizens' assembly by demonstrating the organisers' commitment to quality, transparency and neutrality. The analysis carried out during the evaluation also provides a basis for learning from experience and improving citizens' assemblies in the future.

The aim of the study is to evaluate the design of the citizens' assembly organized by Vilnius City Municipality in 2025, the deliberative democracy process, and the short-term impact of the assembly, as well as to formulate recommendations to Vilnius City Municipality on the institutionalization of deliberative democracy principles. The study includes surveys of citizens' assembly participants, representative surveys of Vilnius residents, interviews with citizens' assembly participants, organizers, and representatives of other stakeholders involved in the future application of deliberative democracy practices. The results of the evaluation will be presented in a report, its appendix, a summary, and slides intended for decision-makers.

Students from the Institute of International Relations and Political Science at Vilnius University contributed to the study on a voluntary basis: Gabija Januškaitė, Gerda Maračinskaitė, Motiejus Būta, Radvilė Kragnytė, Kotryna Kalinauskaitė, and Matas Blažys.