The Deliberative Universities Network (UNIDELIB) is bringing together French and international academic and research institutions seeking a common goal : integrating deliberative processes into the very fabric of higher education. This network was officially launched at the “Deliberation in action” conference organized by the University Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) on November 17th 2023 at the Fontainebleau IEP (Political science institute). UNIDELIB network gathers around twenty universities to this day. On the path of the French Citizens’ Climate Convention, this network aims to adapt participatory approaches to the university context through student citizens’ assemblies. These events offer innovative frameworks for students’ involvement and collective decision-making in the face of challenges posed by universities’ ecological and social transition.

The network’s main goals are based on :

• Sharing experiences, good practice and ideas : This network aims at sharing successful experiences of deliberation within participating universities, creating a platform for mutual learning and sharing good practice of deliberation.
• Collaborative reflection on contemporary issues : So as to face environmental and social challenges, UNIDELIB network is encouraging critical reflection on existing educational and decision-making models, emphasizing horizontality, interdisciplinary and including students’ voices in university governance.
• Collaborative research : providing comparative surveys to produce interdisciplinary scientific work which are contributing to feed deliberative democracy literature and solutions on social and political issues raised by the climate crisis
• Sharing research materials : the network makes it possible to list, document and bring access to a database on each deliberative process, aiming to create common resources in order to help the practice and study of these experiments. The network is also providing access to human and financial resources.
• International outreach and collaboration : The network aims to expand on a global scale by sharing its initiatives and results with other academic institutions and organizations, thereby promoting innovation and bringing legitimacy on an international scale.

The network will be lead by many activities throughout the year such as:

• Organizing annual or occasional student citizen’s assemblies and conventions, exploring various themes such as student’s diet, digitalization, and ecological transition.
• Organizing and participating in academic symposiums and conferences, as well as international events, to present the network’s work and research.
• Producing academic and scientific documents, as well as an ongoing documentary film on the network, to document and spread innovative practices in student deliberation.
• Developing a dedicated website (https://www.algopolivinglab.fr/) offering resources and tools to facilitate the implementation of deliberative processes in universities.
• Collaborating with other academic institutions and organizations, both nationally and internationally, to extend the network’s impact and reach.

The creation of this network reflects the dynamic commitment of universities to promote student deliberation as a pillar of higher education and the construction of a new decision-making model within the University. The UNIDELIB network is still under construction, and universities wishing to join this dynamic are all welcome!

The UNIDELIB network :

• University of Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC)
• University of Lausanne (UNIL)
• Nantes University
• Student Network for an Ecological and United Society (RESES)
• Paris Nanterre University
• Institut National des Langues et des Civilisations Orientales (INALCO)
• Sorbonne Paris-Nord University (USPN)
• New Sorbonne University (USN)
• University of Grenoble-Alpes (UGA)
• Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon (INSA Lyon)
• University of Exeter
• The City University of New York (CUNY)
• Bard College
• University of Applied Sciences of Italian Switzerland (SUPSI)
• Lyon 1 University
• Vrije Amsterdam University
• University of Copenhagen

Contact : emilie.frenkiel@u-pec.fr / coline.peters@u-pec.fr