Europeans want to live in and pass on to future generations a cleaner environment, where energy is more affordable, transport is smarter and jobs are plenty! The European Green Deal is the EU’s most ambitious plan so far to make this a reality, as it transforms the EU into the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The Real Deal project aims at bringing Europeans closer to the decision making processes at the heart of the green and just transition, to make sure their voices are heard.

REAL DEAL is reshaping citizens’ deliberation for the European Green Deal. Behind the network is a wide range of various actors. It brings together researchers from: ethics and innovation, gender studies and ecofeminism, psychology, geography, urban planning, environmental law and sustainability. It includes some of the largest EU civil society organisations in the fields of environment, climate, sustainable development and local democracy, as well as the youth climate movement and the social justice movement.

We will develop innovative tools and formats to take deliberative democracy to a new level. It will test innovations at citizens’ assemblies in at least 13 countries and examine pan-European formats. Particular attention will be paid to the principle of “leave no one behind”, which promotes the engagement of disenfranchised groups disproportionately affected by environmental harm. The aim is to develop a new model of environmental citizenship across Europe. REAL DEAL is coordinated by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS).

As a partner organisation, our role is to build the capacity of participants on gender equality issues and raise awareness of the role of an intersectional ecofeminist approach. We will provide trainings throughout the process and advise on the design of gender-responsive deliberation processes. Our aim is to set standards for gender mainstreaming throughout the project, which participants will adhere to during project implementation and which can be monitored through gender indicators.

Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Poland, Serbia, Spain, Ukraine

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101037071.