Massembly

As part of Upgrade Democracy, we are organising what we hope will become the UK's largest-ever community assembly: the Massembly!

Bring your ideas and imagination, discuss these with others and decide together:

“How might we take meaningful steps to Upgrade Democracy?”

Let’s get our voices heard. Share this with everyone you know who’s frustrated and fed-up with how things are right now. This is deliberative democracy in action!

What to expect

We will work together in small groups of six.
Everyone will be introduced to a wide range of ideas about the current democratic system, complementary people power and innovative people power. We will be encouraged to discuss these ideas and share views.
Each group will be provided with a set of Explainer Cards that will walk us through each step in the process. We will also be able to vote on a set of statements about the state of democracy in the UK, and how we might upgrade it.
With these ideas in mind, we will discuss in our groups what we have heard and read, bring our perspectives, and decide on up to three new ideas. These new ideas will then be captured, so that all other groups can consider and vote on them.
The Massembly will make use of an online tool called Pol.is, to enable us to capture and vote on ideas. In order to input to Pol.is, each group will need access to three or more smartphones, to be used in pairs or individually by each group member.

What if I can’t attend the in-person Massembly?

In addition to this in-person Massembly at Upgrade Democracy, we’re planning to run a simultaneous online assembly, to enable those unable to attend in person to participate. If this goes ahead, further details will be made available soon.

Logistics

When:
Saturday 31st August, 13:00-16:00

Where:
Upgrade Democracy, Windsor (exact location tbc)

What to bring:
Pen/pencil/paper or some other means of taking notes (not essential) and a Smartphone (not essential, provided there are at least 3 within each group).

Further information and support

Stewards will be on hand to help everyone organise into groups of six and to distribute the sets of Explainer Cards.
An information Hub hosted by volunteers from the Community Assemblies Escalation Campaign and the Citizens’ Assemblies Working Group (CAWG) will be on site. Visit the Hub on Friday and Saturday before the Massembly, to ask questions and request additional support, e.g. request a BSL Interpreter to join your small group or for large print versions of the Explainer Cards.
If you have specific requirements, e.g. needing a buddy, please email xr.inclusion@protonmail.com and we will support these where possible.

What happens next?

In the weeks following Upgrade Democracy we hope to run a series of online assemblies, using the same question and information. Further information will be added here and on Rebellion Broadcast as it becomes available.
These will be scheduled for various days/times to maximise the opportunities for new people to participate.
The online assemblies will be open to anyone, to uphold the principle of radical inclusivity and incorporate a broad range of ideas and opinions.
After the assemblies are complete all the ideas in Pol.is will be made available to a much larger number of people, who in turn will be able to vote and add their ideas as well.
Through the combination of the in-person assembly, online assemblies and further use of Pol.is, we will continue to increase the number of participants and the breadth and quality of ideas, so that we can collectively create the largest-ever community assembly in the UK!

Finally, we don’t want it to stop there

A summary of the results will be made available.
To build on the energy and excitement generated and the experience gained, a set of suggestions will be created for how to escalate and take the most popular ideas forward.

As a result, we can genuinely take meaningful steps to upgrade democracy!

Key info for Upgrade Democracy