Applying citizens’ juries as a driver of the sustainability transformation in the global south – an introduction to the method

By Marco Nilgen, Lena Untermayer and Björn Vollan

Within the framework of the CGIAR Research Initiative on “Low-Emission Food Systems” (also known as Mitigate+), our research group is currently working on the implementation of a joint research project with representatives from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). The aim and scope of this project are to empirically investigate the suitability of the citizens’ jury approach as a potential deep-leverage intervention for a sustainable food system transformation in the Global South. We approach this investigation from a multitude of perspectives, ranging from an integrated learning perspective about the exact processes behind the formation of political support and agency within citizens’ juries to a more theory-driven analysis of how participation in bottom-up decision-making processes affects behavioral biases on an individual level. We aim to generate scientific knowledge that can inform the effectiveness of future citizens’ jury applications.

While the specific policy focus of our case study will rest on the topic of agricultural food system transformations within the context of a living lab in Caquetá, Colombia (more on that in later posts), this post takes a more general perspective and aims to inform you about the guidelines that one should adhere to when implementing the citizens’ jury approach. We will describe the preparatory stages and summarize general facilitation guidelines for the implementation of citizens’ juries. The current version of our full citizens’ jury facilitation guidelines is available on request from the authors. In the future, this blog will continue to take you along our research journey, as well as provide you with insights into the research process and, ultimately, its outcomes.

See more information on the CGIAR Initiative on Low-Emission Food Systems here.

Photo credit: Max Burger / University of Marburg