Strengthening democracy with nationwide workshops.

Background

Democracy100 is a national initiative convened by Mannifera and the Australian Democracy Network to strengthen democratic culture, civic trust and civil society capability across Australia. Delivered in partnership with Arup, the project brings together diverse voices from across civil society, philanthropy, research, advocacy and practice.

The program responds to growing concern about democratic disengagement, polarisation and institutional distrust, while recognising that significant innovation, care and leadership already exist across the ecosystem. Democracy100 is structured as a series of state and territory roundtables, beginning in Perth and Adelaide, with future convenings planned for Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin.

Opportunity for futures

Democracy100 creates a shared space for collective sensemaking at a time of cascading social, environmental and political change. Rather than framing democracy as a system in decline, the project takes a strengths-based approach, focusing on the systems already providing hope, agency and possibility for a future form of democracy in Australia. The project connects people and emphasises design fiction storytelling to generate new narratives.

Each roundtable contributes to a growing national picture, where we are tracking questions and ideas, strengthening relationships across jurisdictions, and identifying strategic leverage points. The work supports the emergence of a connected constellation of actors and ideas that can adapt over time, informing both immediate collaboration and longer-term democratic futures.

Approach

Relative Creative and Arup worked as co-lead consultants, combining strategic design, futures thinking and participatory facilitation. We began with contextual research and a rapid sprint series to design each roundtable, focusing on people, politics, place, process and prompts.

Highly designed facilitation materials and methods came together at each roundtable, followed by collective sensemaking, resulting in visual topic maps, synthesis reports and repeatable templates that accumulate insight across locations. Together, these outputs translate what is heard into shared understandings and future-ready potential pathways for a future in which citizens of Australia have a say over their collective futures.