Community Call: Deliberation That Belongs to Everyone (The Case for Open-Source & Interoperable Tools) hosted by CrownShy x Metagov
This call is the first of a new Community Call series on Deliberative & Digital Democracy hosted by CrownShy and Metagov. These calls will bring together people working on deliberative and digital democracy including researchers, practitioners, technology builders, academics, policymakers, and more. Our goal is to create a shared, professional space for folks to strengthen ties, cross-pollinate ideas, and reflect on how democratic infrastructure is being shaped in the real world.
What to Expect from this Series:
Featured presentations from practitioners, developers, and researchers
Open discussion through Q&A and breakout conversations
Community shout-outs - a space to share projects, ask for help, and find collaborators
A professional community focused on tangible insights and genuine connections
Duration: Each call lasts 75 minutes
Access: Free and open to the community
Recording: Sessions will be recorded and shared on the CrownShy and Metagov YouTube channels.
Information about the First Call on Tuesday 24th February:
Topic: Deliberation That Belongs to Everyone: The Case for Open-Source & Interoperable Tools
Deliberative democracy increasingly relies on digital tools yet many remain siloed, proprietary, or designed to work in isolation. Each platform may do one job well, but together they rarely form a coherent system that can grow, adapt, or be governed collectively.
This session will introduce what we’re calling the “switchboard era” of democratic technology: a shift away from single, all-in-one platforms toward interoperable, open source ecosystems - where tools are designed to work together, so information and processes can move between them rather than being locked into one closed system
The call is designed as an entry point into this idea. Rather than assuming a technical background, we’ll open up the concept of interoperability from multiple angles — practical, design-led, facilitative, and institutional — and explore its implications for people working in very different parts of the field.
Format for this session
The opening 20-minute provocation will feature an introduction to the topic from the CrownShy core team and Metagov. CrownShy will share on their approach to building a modular “switchboard” called Comhairle: an open, adaptable layer that can connect different open source tools, support hybrid online–offline processes, and evolve as new methods and technologies emerge. Metagov will talk about its learnings from the ongoing Interoperable Deliberative Tools cohort - particularly how protocols, standards, and architectures shape who holds power, who can participate, and how systems remain accountable over time.
This will be followed by:
Q&A and discussion
Small-group breakout conversations
Community shout-outs: a space to share projects, ask for help, and find collaborators
A short teaser for the next call and how to get involved
More about this Series:
The series is hosted by CrownShy and Metagov.
Crownshy is a U.K. and U.S. based team of recognized leaders in the domains of deliberative democracy dedicated to providing democratic tools and methods for communities of all shapes and sizes.
Metagov is a laboratory for digital governance cultivating tools, practices, and communities that enable self-governance in the digital age.
In the spirit of open-source innovation, these are free, community-first calls designed to support learning, collaboration, and critical thinking across disciplines, with a focus on how tools, platforms, and design choices affect power, inclusion, trust, and long-term democratic capacity.
We aim to:
Strengthen connections across the field, rather than within silos
Encourage collaboration and shared learning
Surface and showcase open-source tools and approaches
Support innovation and critical reflection on how democratic systems are designed and governed
Rather than focusing only on highly specialized technical or theoretical questions, the series is designed as a bridging forum - a place where people working in different domains can translate across disciplines, surface assumptions, and learn from each other’s constraints and priorities.
Who Is This For?
This series is for people working in, across, or between the following domains:
Practitioners & facilitators designing and running in-person deliberative processes
Developers & builders creating digital democracy platforms and tools
Researchers & academics studying, evaluating, and theorising democratic innovation
If you are working in any capacity to make online and offline public discourse and collective decision-making more thoughtful, inclusive, and impactful, this community is for you!