About
33 years after Romania’s first free elections, democracy remains unfinished.
Taking place in Bucharest on Saturday May 20, 2023, UNFINISHED Democracy seeks new, creative and productive ways to gather across political affiliations and disciplines.
Launching in an extraordinary evening at the Ateneul Român, the mission of UNFINISHED Democracy is to find concrete ways to make democracy more resilient, near and far.
With democracy faltering within and across borders, this gathering of minds strives to be the hyphen between worlds that typically don’t meet, even if they share both planet and politics.
We believe that democracy needs an urgent upgrade and that we the people must be part of it. Join in!
Poll
DEMOCRACY CONCERNS US ALL
In May 2023, an unprecedented survey on the state of democracy in the region was conducted by Atlas Intel and EIDOS Foundation on the occasion of the launch of UNFINISHED Democracy.
The results of this large-scale public consultation, aimed at producing an MRI of democracy across Romania and the Republic of Moldova, were first presented in the evening of Saturday May 20th 2023. View or download the results here:
Program
Saturday, May 20, 2023
CONSULTATIONS
Attended by application
From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on May 20th, 2023, grassroots consultations gathered 100 people in-person at the House of Ideas and 20 people online in order to crowdsource policies on improving the people’s power in democracy, finding concrete ways to make democracy more resilient, near and far.
Welcome
Breakfast
09:30–10:00
GMT +3
Offline
Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
A casual introduction to the day and each other and a moment to fuel up before we get to work. Breakfast, coffee and tea is provided on site.
Introduction
10:00–10:15
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Panel discussion & presentation of previous consultations’ results
Part 1
10:15–12:00
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Identification of issues
Participants come together to identify key issues arising from “the power of the people”
Part 2
12:00–13:00
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Presentation and prioritization of issues
Participants prioritize the issues they want to tackle or think are the most important
Lunch
Break
13:00–14:00
GMT +3
Offline
Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
A moment to breathe, replenish and network. Lunch provided on site.
Part 3
14:00–15:00
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Citizens’ proposals
After issues are selected, citizens make proposals and discuss and how to best address them
Part 4
15:00–16:00
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Presentation and decision on citizens’ proposals proposals
After the proposals are created, participants vote on them.
The Future of Democracy
16:00–16:30
GMT +3
Offline &
Online
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
A research intervention by Diana Stafie
Mural Vernissage
16:30–17:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Unveiling and presentation of the mural created by KIDS FOR DEMOCRACY to hear their perspective on the future of democracy, in their capacity as future voters as well as inheritors of our present decisions.
KIDS FOR DEMOCRACY
Attended by application
Welcome
Breakfast
09:30–10:00
GMT +3
Offline
Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
A casual introduction to the day and each other, alongside parents, and a moment to fuel up before we start the workshops. Breakfast provided on site.
Government of Children Workshop
10:00–12:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Co-shaping meaningful futures, how could a democratic world co-led by children look like? This trailblazing morning workshop will deep dive into civic imagination, visionary leadership and urban futurism references, inviting children to brainstorm the improvement of their societies for the long term. Starting from a real-world societal challenge, the group will co-design a prototype of a holistic solution to be developed further. Children have no right to vote in our societies, however their visions need to be heard, debated and considered for societal improvement.
CLIMATE FRESK
[11-15 YEAR OLDS]
10:00–12:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
The Climate Fresk is a powerful interactive tool for providing a quality climate education. The facts presented in this hands-on workshop are sourced from the IPCC reports, and intertwined with games to better embody certain key concepts
Morning Break
12:00–12:30
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Free play in the garden and access to games.
Speaking in the Name of the Wolf Workshop
12:30–13:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Speaking in the name of the wolf is a strategy to redefine democracy for a living planet. The First Nation Iroquois people never took decisions without designating someone to speak in the name of the wolf, in order to include the voice of nature in all their discussions. Similarly, this workshop will be looking at stories and maps from around the world, as far as Antarctica, in order to explore alternative visions for a democracy that includes both nature and children. In the last part of this session, children will choose a section of the mural and each prepare a sketch for how they plan to decorate that section in the afternoon.
Lunch Break
13:00–14:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
A moment to breathe and replenish, alongside parents. Lunch provided on site.
Dêmokratía Mural Completion I
14:00–15:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Children will take turns transferring their morning sketches onto the different segments of the mural wall, responding visually to the word DEMOCRACY in Ancient Greek [DÊMOKRATÍA = “people” + “rule”]. Simultaneously, a brainstorm station will remain open for children to contribute ideas for the drafting of their representative’s speech. At the end of this session they will be asked to vote on the ideas they find most important to be mentioned by their representative.
Afternoon Break
15:00–15:30
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Free play in the garden and access to games.
Dêmokratía Mural Completion II
15:30–16:30
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Children will continue taking turns transferring their morning sketches onto the different segments of the mural wall. Simultaneously, children will prepare for the vernissage and evening celebration, either helping their representative draft and rehearse their mini-speech or creating wolf-shaped origami messages about how they think democracy should change, as gifts to be placed on the seats at the Atheneul.
Mural Vernissage
16:30–17:00
GMT +3
Offline Only
Casa Universitarilor
Bucharest
Unveiling and presentation of the mural created by KIDS FOR DEMOCRACY to hear their perspective on the future of democracy, in their capacity as future voters as well as inheritors of our present decisions.
EVENING OF DEMOCRACY
Attended by invitation only
19:00–20:45
GMT +3
Streamed &
Broadcast
Ateneul Român
Bucharest
Guest speakers and performers joined us for a festive evening to conclude the day, sharing research and insights on the state of democracy across borders and co-envision its possible reinvention. Participants accepted in the consultations were automatically invited to the EVENING OF DEMOCRACY.
Democracy is Not Free
Cee-Roo
A brief video manifesto
A Message of Resilience
Achilles Tsaltas & Teodora Tompea
Opening remarks by our co-hosts
Law as a Democratic Safeguard
Kimberley Motley
Law as a democratic safeguard
Measuring Democracy
Yuri Sanches & Pedro Azevedo
Insights from recent democratic surveys in Romania and The Republic of Moldova
Origin Story
Dana Dajani
Spoken poetry performance
The Power of the People
Conclusions from the day’s citizens consultations whose mission has been to draft concrete crowd-sourced policy recommendations for strengthening democracy locally and internationally
Government of Children
Ioana Mischie
A teaser from the transmedia documentary franchise aiming to empower children from all over the world to see themselves as young leaders
In the Name of the Wolf
A demand from tomorrow’s decision makers relayed through a Kids for Democracy representative
Musical Intermission
Octavian & Ovidiu Lup
Cello and piano duo: ”Out There” music by Alan Menken & Over the Rainbow” music by Harold Arlen
Democratic Challenges in Midst of Psychocultural and Technological Changes
Dr. Daniel David
What can psychology tell us about how democracy works and how we make better decisions collectively?
Technology & Democracy: Can Tech Advance and Protect Democracy in the Age of AI?
Ginny Badanes
Reflections on the responsibilities of technology companies to advance and protect fundamental rights, from enabling access to surfacing authoritative information, in a quickly changing technology environment
If I Was President
Dana Dajani
Spoken poetry performance
Democracy: a Continuing Story
The Lord Griffiths of Burry Port
From established to emerging democracies, what does it take to safeguard the democratic process every single day, rather than every few years during elections only?
An Unfinished Discussion
Achilles Tsaltas & Teodora Tompea
Closing remarks and the path ahead
Risk
Dana Dajani and Octavian & Ovidiu Lup
Spoken poetry performance with cello & piano closing performance: “The Swan” music by Camille Saint Saens
Lineup
Daniel
David
Rector & Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Babeș-Bolyai University,
Cluj-Napoca
The Lord Griffiths
of Burry Port
Member of the House of Lords & Member of the UK Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) of the Council of Europe
Octavian
Lup
Cellist & Founder of New Hope Music
Ovidiu
Lup
Pianist
Ginny
Badanes
Senior Director, Democracy Forward Initiative, Microsoft
Yuri
Sanches
Head of Political Risk at AtlasIntel
Pedro
Azevedo
Political Risk Analyst at AtlasIntel
Organizers & Partners
Organizers
UNFINISHED Democracy marked a milestone in the three-year-long Building Blocks for Democracy, launched by the Democracy & Culture Foundation. It acts as one of the five people-driven consultations that the DCF ran across the planet in 2023, after having first interrogated experts in 2022 on the same five key areas of democracy.
The results from this first-of-its-kind, citizen-driven project consist of concrete, detailed policy solutions to issues linked to “the power of the people”. They were presented at the 2023 Athens Democracy Forum along with results with the other four areas of focus: people, parties-money & influence, voting, information & disinformation, and the balance between legislative and executive power.
Media partners
Main partners
Strategic partners
With the support of
Technical partners
Monitoring partner
