The Deliberating Universities Network (UNIDELIB) brings together academic institutions from around the world that aim to promote and introduce deliberative experimentations in universities.

Launched in November 2023, during the “Deliberation in action” conference organized by the Paris-Est Créteil University (UPEC) in France, the Deliberating Universities Network engages an ever-growing number of universities in France and around the world. Since September 2024, the network has been funded by ANR SAPS DACCORD and Erasme Program at UPEC, thanks to France 2030 national research agency funding.

Timeline of deliberative processes organized in universities since 2020

The network members believe that universities have a key role to play in forging a path to more sustainable democracy and to address climate change issues, beginning by transforming their own institution. Drawing from the French experience of the Climate change citizens' assembly, the network members promote and introduce, in their own university, deliberative processes in the form of student and academic staff citizens assemblies. These assemblies offer an innovative framework for student engagement and collective decision-making for all university actors, to address the ecological, social and democratic challenges in universities transformation process.

• Sharing resources and mutual assistance in the development and implementation of deliberative processes by member universities: the network is a platform for mutual assistance and learning. The network lists, documents and makes accessible all the data produced through the deliberative processes implemented by its members, in order to create shared resources to facilitate the implementation and the study of university deliberative processes by all its members. The network allows member universities to access tools as well as human and financial resources.

• Collaborative and interdisciplinary research: the UNIDELIB network provides access to a plurality of field researches for researchers from member universities. It offers them the opportunity to conduct comparative fieldwork to produce interdisciplinary academic work that contributes to the research on deliberative democracy, university transformations, and on the social and political issues linked to the environmental crisis.

• A joint reflection on current issues and new models of governance at the university: in the face of environmental, democratic and societal challenges, the network promotes critical thinking on existing educational and decision-making systems. It promotes horizontality, interdisciplinary collaboration and the inclusion of student voices and, more broadly, of all stakeholders in the governance of the university.

• An international dimension that contributes to the expansion of the network and the large diffusion its activities: the network welcomes French and foreign universities. It aims to further expand internationally by promoting university deliberative innovations legitimacy on an international scale, in particular through the sharing of its initiatives and results with other academic institutions and organizations.

AGENDA:

• Monthly meetings:
  • 2026-2027 meetings to be determined soon

• Scientific events:
  • June 15, 2026: 2nd UNIDELIB international conference, the Network of Deliberative Universities, “Are university deliberative assemblies political spaces?”, Institut Etudes Politiques Fontainebleau - Université Paris Est Créteil https://iep-fontainebleau.u-pec.fr/l-ecole/actualites/second-international-conference-of-deliberating-universities-network-unidelib-are-university-deliberative-assemblies-political-spaces.
  • June 16, 2026: 2nd UNIDELIB international workshop,Sorbonne Nouvelle
  • February 10, 2025: Study day in French on the organization of citizens' assembly in academic context, at the Académie du climat in Paris. The event presentation and program are available here.
  • March 13, 2025: Study day in French on facilitation in deliberative context, at the Académie du climat in Paris. The event presentation and program are available here.
  • May 23, 2025: the UNIDELIB international conference will be held at the Institut d'Études Politiques de Fontainebleau (UPEC), in France. The event presentation and program are available here.
  • May 24, 2025: UNIDELIB workshop.
  • To access previous events, please click here.

• PUBLICATIONS: to access the list of the network's publications, please click here.

• FINAL REPORTS OF MEMBER UNIVERSITIES ASSEMBLIES : to read the public reports of UNIDELIB member universities assemblies, please click here.

* DOCUMENTARY FILMS:

• Faire Ecole: first student citizens' assembly at UPEC, with English subtitles available here.
• Assemblé.e.s : second student citizens' assembly at UPEC, with English subtitles available here.
• Universités Délibérantes : assemblies at USN, USPN, UPEC, Nantes, IRD, with English subtitles available here.
• L'expérience délibérative : student citizens' assembly at USPN available here.
• Et les fruits passeront la promesse des fleurs: la convention citoyenne étudiante pour la transition écologique de la Sorbonne Nouvelle: student citizens' assembly at USN.

Documentary Deliberating Universities, directed and produced by Yves Lechermeier, 2024

A map of the network is being made on Open street map

A data collection process is ungoing, which allow us to conduct research and publish academic articles as well as help more processes to be designed. It will also lead to the drafting of a generic guide for organizing assemblies in academic context.

To contact us, please write to emilie.frenkiel@u-pec.fr.