In an era marked by anti-democratic challenges, hope emerges from the local level where local governments play an important role by sustaining and advancing democratic principles from below. It is against this backdrop that the International Centre for Local Democracy (ICLD) organizes a new edition of the Local Democracy Academy, inviting researchers from all corners of the globe to join in an environment of learning and co-creation. Set to take place from the 26th to the 29th of August 2024 in Lund, Sweden, the 4th iteration of the Academy promises to be a platform to connect research and practice to strengthen local democracy.
What to Expect
At its core, the Local Democracy Academy is a platform for action-research, a gathering of change-makers committed to understand the potential of democratic innovations. Through thought-provoking discussions, research presentations, and workshops, participants explore the complex dynamics in which local governments act as drivers of global change.
The Academy is built around real-world problems and challenges identified by local governments. It offers opportunities to co-design research initiatives, formulate policy-recommendations, ideate to strengthen democratic principles and network with researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines. At the Academy, participants will:
- Present their research around the key themes of the conference.
- Participate in Local Democracy Labs and use their expertise to discuss ways of addressing the challenges identified by local governments.
- Build capacity for impact-oriented research.
- Co-create ideas for research proposals and policy briefs.
A Joint Effort
The Academy aims to connect researchers with practitioners that are active in ICLD’s Networks for Municipal Partnership. Participants are encouraged to think more deeply about how their research is relevant to the specific problems of local governments in one of the following thematic groups:
- Climate Action
- Gender Equality
- Democratic Resilience
- Equitable Health
- Youth Inclusion
- Human Rights Cities
Beyond the confines of academia, the Academy aspires to seed tangible outcomes, such as after-labs projects, literature reviews or policy-relevant papers.
A Call for Researchers
The ICLD welcomes junior and senior researchers with a strong interest in and knowledge of the field of local democracy and decentralisation to apply! Click the button below, to learn more about the programme and find which thematic group best correlates to your research interests.
Click here for more information and to apply fort he Academy.