S7E4 – How Could We? Build democratic systems that address the polycrisis?

Podcast 03 Sep 2025

In this episode, recorded during COP29 in Baku, we sit down with Rich Wilson, CEO of the Iswe Foundation, about the state of our democracies today and the role of citizen assemblies in making our democracies stronger. Rich argues that we are at a pivotal moment for democracies, as despite growing public demand for action, our governments and democratic systems are struggling to effectively address the climate crisis.

We discuss how citizen assemblies can help strengthen democracies by building agency for citizens, fostering learning, and being grounded in principles of solidarity and inclusion. Rich shares insights on one of Iswe Foundation’s ambitious projects: creating a global, permanent citizen assembly to bring to COP30 in Brazil, supporting a new form of democracy and governance that can help address the climate crisis by empowering citizens to drive change within their communities.

We also explore the challenges of scaling citizen assemblies and the potential for new forms of democratic participation in climate governance.

Listen on:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29UyPwvWTABucrXGRBo3N4?si=88jYWBXhRFGE2usquQFHTw
Amazon: https://music.amazon.de/podcasts/cfb1e591-ebaa-4144-834b-88075df82d80/episodes/64664387-70f0-4121-b7d2-034254e26da4/how-could-we-s7-e4—how-could-we-build-democratic-systems-that-address-the-polycrisis
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s7-e4-how-could-we-build-democratic-systems-that-address/id1662860056?i=1000677420655&l=vi

This episode was presented and produced by Anne-Sophie Garrigou.

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