Citizen’s Industrial Strategy

What If Citizens Wrote the Industrial Strategy for Their Own Communities?

RSA Fellows launch cross-sector coalition to design the UK’s most ambitious programme of deliberative democracy

A group of RSA Fellows has launched a new initiative to bring together industry leaders, academics, educators, community organisations, investors, and local government to co-design a national programme of Citizens’ Assemblies focused on the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.

The programme, developed in partnership with deliberative democracy specialists including New Citizen Project, aims to give citizens across the United Kingdom genuine deliberative power over how their local economies develop — translating the government’s national industrial vision into locally-owned action plans shaped by the people who live and work in each community.

Beginning on 10th March, 2026 with a three-part stakeholder workshop series, the initiative will assemble a founding coalition to develop a fully funded programme design. The coalition aims to secure investment for a professional scoping phase before moving to national delivery of Citizens’ Assemblies in communities across the UK.

“The government’s Modern Industrial Strategy is a top-down vision for the country,” said Roger Casale, one of the convening RSA Fellows. “We want to find out what happens when local communities are given the same question — and the genuine power to answer it themselves. This isn’t about opposing government strategy. It’s about making sure it succeeds, by grounding it in what citizens actually want for their places.”

The programme draws on internationally recognised best practice, including the OECD Good Practice Principles for deliberative processes and DemocracyNext’s Assembly Guide. If realised at scale, it would represent one of the most ambitious exercises in participatory economic policy ever attempted in the UK.

The founding workshop series is open to senior representatives from industry (including SMEs and anchor institutions), universities and research centres, further education and skills providers, voluntary and community organisations, financial institutions and impact investors, and local and combined authorities. Places are by application only.

Making a Success of the Modern Industrial Strategy

Online and In-person Panel discussion on February 9th 2026, 4pm GMT.

A group of RSA Fellows believes this moment in history requires something unprecedented: a large-scale, national, deliberative civic process—built on decades of experience in deliberative democracy, public engagement, and systems thinking—that will enable the UK population to respond with the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy, not merely to it.

The UK Government has set out an ambitious ten-year Modern Industrial Strategy—a call to action for the nation’s scientific, creative, civic, and industrial leadership at a moment of profound global uncertainty.

Our approach would allow academia, industry, government, and citizens to work together through state-of-the-art deliberative interactions, generating informed public insight and consent alongside professional expertise. The goal is not critique, but co-creation: a practical, implementable framework showing how each sector of the UK can translate the Strategy into action, locally and nationally.

What would this look like? What technologies would be involved? What are the priorities for industry, academia, the public? Could we reach consensus? Would the process harm or hinder efforts to drive new forms of democracy?

February 9th 2026, 4pm GMT

Join the discussion with our invited speakers.

Jo Lucas. Director of CoCrea8: Creating delivery frameworks and connecting networks within complex projects to ensure the right knowledge at the right time for optimal project performance. Jo has over 20 years of experience of delivering change within and between large and complex organisations, including TfL, HS2 Ltd, UCL, BAA, ODA and Network Rail. In addition, her background as a Chartered Civil Engineer with experience in civil/structures gives Jo a broad perspective of our impact on the environment.

Tim Minshall: inaugural Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge, Head of the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), Head of the IfM’s Centre for Technology Management (CTM) and a Fellow of Churchill College. His research, teaching and engagement activities are focused on the links between manufacturing, skills, and innovation.

Irenie Ekkeshis: Co-Founder of New Citizen Project, a participation consultancy which supports organisations to strategically design and deliver innovative participatory programmes. She is an experienced workshop and process designer, facilitator and programme lead, with over 20 years of experience in developing and delivering strategic and creative projects, including innovative deliberative projects such as thePeople’s Plan for Nature, RSPCA’s Animal Futures and IPSA’s recent Citizens’ Forum on MPs’ Pay and Funding.

Introduction by Eva Pascoe: RSA Non-Executive Director and RSA Board Trustee.

Panel Co-Chairs:

Roger Casale -Independent Public Affairs Advisor, Former Labour Member of Parliament and advisor to Finmeccanica UK/Leonardo. Founder of New Europeans.

Chris Forman – Founder of Deliberation Gateway; a thematic network of the RSA.

Register Here

US Fellows Gathering

Since 2016, Deliberation Gateway has been evolving a network of RSA Fellows, deliberative democracy practitioners, and guest speakers. With each conversation and connection, we spin threads into a web of relationships—strengthening, strand by strand, the case for deliberation in all contexts.

On Tuesday 30th September at 3Pm EDT,I invite you to a special gathering: part mini-reunion, part future-planning, and a trial of a new RSA Fellows format. Six Fellows will present their projects, and you’ll be able to join breakout sessions for deeper conversations. This is our chance to reconnect, exchange ideas, and chart where Deliberation Gateway goes next.

Deliberation Gateway uses the RSA’s network to connect professionals across disciplines with the practice of structured public conversation. From pensions to chemical regulation, from finance to faith, we are exploring how deliberation can make an impact far beyond legislatures.
A single strand of spider silk may seem fragile. But woven together, these strands create one of the toughest materials in nature. Likewise, we believe that building a wide, interwoven network of deliberative processes—across industries, professions, and communities—will be strong and flexible; adequate to outlast the most rigid authoritarian structures.

To take part in one of our projects—or propose a new one—join us at one of our events or simply reach out.

Explore Our Library of Conversations

Deliberation & Technology
Deliberation & Non-Violence
Deliberation & Faith
Deliberation & Finance
Introduction to Deliberation

If you have a conversation idea for Deliberation Gateway, then join us at one of our events or simply reach out and let us know!

Current Projects

Deliberation & Pensions – Hosting satellite sessions at major financial conferences, inviting fiduciaries managing trillions of dollars to deploy citizen engagement to reimagine pension funds in terms of wellbeing and planetary responsibility.

Deliberation & Chemical Regulation – Early-stage work with deliberation experts and regulatory professionals to rethink the future of chemical governance in the UK.

Pathway To Inner Peace

Here at DG we are really excited to present this conversation that could not come at more timely moment. With many in the US seeking meaning and struggling to come to terms with what is happening, there is a great need for “something new” in the water.

Public deliberations among randomly chosen citizens hosted at schools, churches, town halls could go a long way to helping US citizen engage with one another to adapt and move into the new America that is being reborn.

The value of a well run delibration and its effect on people is discussed in this video with Manda Apte and Layne Hartsell in a far reaching conversation that taps in to the psyche of what it means to be a US citizen and, indeed to be a human.

Can Civic Assemblies Redefine Responsible Investing

In 1765, the East India Company made history—but not the kind to celebrate. After violent conquest, it secured diwani rights, giving it the power to collect taxes for profit. This infamous moment in history showed how corporate interests can override the public good, with devastating consequences.

Fast forward to today: $60 trillion in pensions and endowments holds the power to shape our world. But are these funds invested wisely? Are they aligned with the values of the people they’re meant to serve—or just maximizing profit?

At the heart of this question lies an important truth: markets often ignore what really matters—love, compassion, and sustainability. These irrationalities—often called “externalities”—can’t be measured in dollars, yet they’re central to our well-being and our future.

A New Way Forward
Citizen assemblies offer a way to bring these human values into decision-making. By engaging diverse voices, assemblies can uncover societal priorities that markets might overlook. Imagine if fiduciaries—those responsible for managing trillions of dollars—could use this input to guide investments. The potential result? Profitable investment decisions that are aligned with people and planet.

Join the Conversation
On February 6, 2025, the Deliberation Gateway Network will host a pivotal conversation to explore this concept. Our speakers include:

Professor Emmeline Cooper, sustainable investing expert
Forrest Sparks, participatory processes designer
Tim MacDonald, lawyer and financial theorist

We’ll discuss how civic assemblies can help guide fiduciaries in making decisions that serve humanity and the planet—not just profit. The event will also include a brainstorming session, inviting participants to share ideas and shape the future of this concept.

📅 When: 10am PT / 1pm ET
🌍 Where: Online
🎟️ Register Here

Help Us Take This Forward
We hope this conversation doesn’t end with this event! We’re looking for passionate individuals to help take these concepts forward.

We need people willing to join a team that will organize a Citizen Assembly focused on investment priorities.
We need help to organize future Deliberation Gateway conversations! If you’re ready to make a difference, we’d love for you to join us.

Let’s work together to redefine responsible investing and create a future where human values guide decisions that affect us all.

Image: Shah ‘Alam conveying the grant of the Diwani to Lord Clive, August 1765 by Benjamin West

Pathways to Civic Renewal

The Deliberation Gateway Network proudly presents a series of events in direct response to Braver Angels’ Civic Renewal Challenge. Our 2024 mission is to champion deliberative democracy as the cornerstone of civic renewal that will help redefine the essence of US citizenship.

Join us as we connect diverse efforts to construct an unprecedented society – one where individuals are emotionally, intellectually, and technologically equipped to confront the complex challenges of our modern era. Our events merge the wisdom of established experts with the passion, love, and creativity of everyday US citizens, transcending political boundaries to illuminate a brighter future for our nation.

Current Series

• Technology and Deliberative Democracy

• Non-Violence and Deliberative Democracy

• Deliberative Financial Stewardship

• Government by Republic and Deliberative Democracy

• Elections and Deliberative Democracy

• Industry and Deliberative Democracy

•Science and Deliberative Democracy

Join us in advocating for a more enlightened, forward-thinking future. Deliberation Gateway is your portal to a year of civic renewal.

Chris Forman PhD FRSA

Darrell Bouldin FRSA

Deliberation Gateway Network Leads

Gateway to Real Democracy

Join the RSA’s Deliberation Gateway Network for an informal information session about how deliberative democracy can help governments and local councils solve community problems.

30 Mar 2023 | 3PM – 4PM PDT | 6PM – 7PM EDT

The Deliberation Gateway community hosts informal online discussions to connect individuals with real world problems to experienced Citizen Assembly practitioners. In the long run, through a series of informal conversations we hope to identify opportunities for future citizen assemblies. We foster an environment of learning and support for those who are aware of the myriad problems in the world and are looking for a way in which they can contribute locally in their own communities to fix the bigger problems that face us all.

Participating in University Safety

Student protests aimed at defunding college/university police departments create a dichotomy for many administrations across the US. How can higher education institutions create safe environments for their communities, when the security system itself is considered a threat by those very people?

Long term, broad and deep participatory processes offer a potential route to finding a viable solution to this problem. However, such processes will only bear fruit if they are authentic and much more than lip service from administrative bodies designed to placate students.

Such participation processes must generate genuine transformation. Empowering entire communities to collectively re-imagine every aspect of their security infrastructure is a possible route to achieving such transformation successfully and peacefully. Whether we are talking about crime prevention—which can include improvements to support mental health services and creating employment or scholarship opportunities for local communities —all the way through to fire alarms and safe working practices in research laboratories, all of which may involve institutional police to some extent.

Deliberation Gateway is looking for expressions of interest from partners and/or participants to create a learning community for supporting the design of these kinds of complex participatory processes. We aim to nucleate a community that will meet periodically over the next year to help campus communities across the country explore participatory strategies specifically designed for US higher education to address this safety dichotomy.

We aim to provide a time efficient process in which participants will meet monthly and generate much of the content for each other. In the first instance we will explore the issue of safety and hear from participants what is happening in, and around, their campus communities. Thereafter, with support from the RSA, we will use our networks to find resources to support learning and exchange of best practice. We hope that institutions and individuals participating in our support community will gain a clear understanding of participatory processes that are truly effective. We will also offer long term follow up meetings to assess the outcome of any participatory processes that campuses employ.

Such participation is only likely to succeed on higher education campuses if it is long term. As a result these participatory processes could become permanent fixtures at universities, inculcating students and staff with a culture of participatory and deliberative values that could permeate into lectures as a useful learning mode, as well as into wider society as students and staff move through their universities into other commercial, academic, governmental and political organizations.

We would like to hear from any staff, faculty or student governments at any US institution that are interested in learning more about co-creating continuous participation exercises across their campuses aimed at developing local safety policies. Please contact the Deliberation Gateway directly to register interest. Please also sign up to our mailing list to get monthly updates and news from the DG community.”

Unlocking Deliberation

A collaboration of deliberation organizations from around the world is hosting a series of online training seminars called “Unlocking Deliberation” to help individuals and groups learn how to bring the wide range of modern deliberative techniques to bear on the collective problems that confront them. The first webinar of the series “Why Deliberate?” is taking place on Sunday, August 9th 2020 at 8pm ET, (5 pm PT).

On Tap, not on Top

Sat 21st December 2019, 12h00 EDT, Register

The next discussion in our series will be about the role of experts in deliberations.

In a deliberation we select diverse members of the public to make a judgment on behalf of everyone else. But let’s face it: a random member of the public is unlikely to know anywhere near enough about a given topic to make an informed policy choice—even though they themselves may think otherwise—and, by extension, we may ask why would an assembly of the public fare any better?

Similarly, we expect elected officials to know better than a random member of the public but why should that be the case? It’s clear that every public deliberation, whether comprised of elected or randomly picked members, needs experts to provide detailed and up to date information.

Who chooses which experts to invite?

How do we ensure a deliberation is not unduly biased?

How do we avoid the experts taking over and using the CA to openwash their own technocratic agenda?

Why would an expert bother to get out of bed? Are they being paid?

In this discussion we will have a look at the role of experts in deliberations. Register here