INNOVADE Living Lab 2: Envisioning Digital Democracy

Living Lab
23 September 2025 09:00 – 24 September 2025 14:00
Paderborn University, Paderborn (Hotel Aspethera, Am Busdorf 7, 33098 Paderborn, Germany)
Living Lab Paderborn

At the heart of INNOVADE's innovative approach to digital democracy lies its Living Labs, dynamic workshops that bring together citizens, government representatives, and experts alike to co-create better ways for communities to participate in decision-making. These Living Labs serve as creative spaces where diverse perspectives converge to shape the development of digital tools that make civic participation within digital democracy easier and more effective.

This Living Lab builds upon extensive research covering digital democracy definitions and theoretical frameworks, online participation mechanisms, open governance models, digital activism strategies, e-voting systems, enabling technologies for democratic participation, foreign interference risks, and global trends shaping the future of digital democracies. Participants will work collaboratively to transform these research findings into practical tools and frameworks that can enhance democratic governance and citizen engagement.

The event welcomes project partners, external stakeholders including democracy practitioners and civic tech organisations, as well as subject matter experts in digital governance and democratic innovation. Together, participants will contribute to developing the Interdisciplinary Knowledge Base on digital democracy and the Digital Democracy Grading Toolkit, creating actionable insights that inform future development phases and establish practical frameworks for implementing digital democracy solutions.

Taking place at Hotel Aspethera in Paderborn, Germany, this Living Lab will generate network connections with leading experts in the field, practical frameworks for digital democracy implementation, and a shared vision for the future of democratic participation in the digital age. The collaborative approach ensures that diverse perspectives are incorporated into final frameworks, creating solutions that are both innovative and implementable across different contexts while maintaining principles of inclusivity, ethics, and human-centred design.

Agenda

Day 1

TimeActivitySpeaker
09:00 – 09:15

Welcome 

Program Introduction

UPB 
BtH
09:15 – 09:30Ice-breaker activityBtH
09:30 – 09:45Presentation – Defining Digital DemocracyUPB
FOCUSED VIEW – ASPECTS OF DIGITAL DEMOCRACY
09:45 – 10:45

1 st panel presentation/discussion 


Online Participation, Open Governance 
Digital Activism, E-voting and Enabling Technologies

UPB, KUL, CV, HC

External speaker

10:45 – 11:00Coffee break 
11:00 – 12:30Workshop 1ALL
12:30 – 13:30LUNCH 
13:30 – 14:30

2nd panel presentation/discussion


Global Trends that Will Define the Futures of Digital Democracies,
Risks of Foreign Interference in Democratic Processes

UPB, KUL, CV, HC

External speaker

14:30 – 14:45Coffee Break 
14:45 – 16:45Workshop 2ALL
16:45 – 17:00Day 1 wrap up and concluding remarks 

Day 2

TimeActivitySpeaker
GLOBAL VIEW – OPTIMUM DIGITAL DEMOCRACY
09:00 – 09:15Recap of results from day 1UPB, BTH
09:15 – 10:30Global view of an optimum digital democracy 
10:30 – 10:45Coffee break 
10:45 – 11:30Inputs for toolkit 
11:30 – 12:45WP3 presentation/start-up meeting 
LL2 Inputs to WP3
KUL, UPB, BtH, ICTLC, HC
12:45 – 13:00Concluding remarks and wrap-upUPB, BtH
13:00 – 14:00Lunch