Integrating citizens’ assemblies into local climate governance: Lessons from a UK case study

Abstract

Despite the growing international use of citizens’ assemblies to address climate change challenges, there remains a lack of consensus about the best means of integrating these into existing political decision-making contexts, particularly at the local level. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research which evaluates the ‘robustness’ of efforts to integrate mechanisms such as climate assemblies into structures of governance whilst also examining their role in unlocking creative solutions to climate change. We fill this gap with findings from an interview-based study of a local climate assembly in Devon, England. We apply and evaluate the framework of Boswell et al (2023) which incorporates three dimensions of robust integrative design relating to polity, policy and politics. The framework aids in the identification and categorisation of facilitators and processes of integration relevant to local climate assemblies. However, our research also identifies salient barriers to integration on each dimension, which occur both within and across scales of governance. Recognising and addressing these obstacles, we suggest, is as important as adopting formal processes of integration. Barriers to polity robustness include party political differences and competing priorities across organisations. Challenges for policy robustness include resource and capacity issues, a lack of clarity over implementation responsibility, and national government policy. Political robustness is inhibited by difficulties with engaging certain stakeholders such as business, and cross-sectoral tensions. Finally, a narrow focus on achievable outcomes linked to existing organisational priorities may undermine climate assemblies’ more transformational potential, suggesting trade-offs between polity/policy robustness and political robustness. • The integration of local climate citizens’ assemblies is enhanced by including varied stakeholders in steering groups. • Assembly impacts are enhanced when tied to wider strategic planning processes and goals of commissioning organisations. • The multi-level, multi-organisational context of local climate governance can both constrain and enable climate assembly impact. • Building links between an assembly’s members and the wider public sphere may enhance its role in local climate governance. • Allowing assembly members agency in shaping an assembly’s agenda may enable more transformational changes.

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