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Description
The overall goal of the project is to empower the innovation of Estonian democratic institutions. In the light of growing global challenges, it is important that democratic institutions are able to remain relevant in the new context (compared to, for example, how parliaments around the world tended to be sidelined during the pandemic) and continue to fulfill their responsibilities (including human rights protection).
Therefore, a coalition of regional democracy development organizations and researchers will be launched during this project to bring international experience and expertise to Estonia, to enable the exchange of best practices and ideas, and to promote systematic international cooperation on democracy innovation.
The project has been created in collaboration with The Oslo Center (TOC) and is being implemented in cooperation with another partner from Norway - The Christian Democratic Party of Norway (KrF). Their long-term expertise in the development of democracy creates strong preconditions for the implementation of the project. During the project, another 10 non-governmental organizations engaged in democracy development (e.g. e-Governance Academy, Estonian Cooperation Council) and research institutions (e.g. TÜ, TLÜ) from Estonia and other countries around the region (eg Demo Finland, Alliance of Democracies) will be involved in the coalition.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to address the challenge of how democratic institutions need to adapt to changes in society in order to remain effective. Specifically, it focused on:
- Raising awareness among Estonian democracy organizations about the importance of ongoing democratic innovation.
- Assessing the current state of democratic innovation and identifying areas where improvements are needed.
- Establishing an international network to bring knowledge and experience in democratic innovation to Estonia.
- Strengthening the capacity of Estonian civil society organizations (CSOs) to work on democratic innovation.
The need for this project arises from the fact that democratic systems, based on values like the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic accountability, must constantly evolve to function well. For example, in Estonia''s current coalition system dominated by political parties, the Parliament no longer plays a significant role in balancing government power, which used to be one of its key functions. This kind of issue is present in many democratic institutions today.
Democratic institutions must adapt to changes in society to continue fulfilling their roles, like protecting human rights and ensuring separation of powers. Without such adjustments, institutions can become ineffective, leading to frustration and the rise of populist or anti-democratic movements. We can see examples from Hungary and other countries, where such institutional safeguards are under threat, showing that these mechanisms are not automatic and require constant protection. This serves as a reminder that democratic systems must evolve to prevent such setbacks.
This project works to ensure that democratic institutions in Estonia and other countries remain resilient and responsive to change.
The project also emphasizes that Estonia, after 30 years of independence, cannot simply adopt solutions from other countries. It must actively contribute to creating new democratic solutions and innovations, collaborating internationally to strengthen its democracy.
The entire project can be broadly divided into four main activities:
1. Estonia''s Co-Creation Process:
In cooperation with Estonian partners (CSOs, universities, etc.) and the Parliament''s office, a thorough co-creation process was carried out to map the current state of democratic research and development in Estonia. This process was successful, with enthusiastic participation, including the involvement of the Parliament’s office as a full partner. The process led to significant discussions and conclusions.
The findings were compiled into a report, "Defining and Developing Democracy in Estonia", which was shared on social media and referenced in various places. This report has served as the foundation for many discussions and has led to new initiatives.
2. Building an International Coalition:
Throughout the project, Estonian democratic development was connected with a wide international community working on democracy development. This was achieved through specific organizations that joined the coalition (22 organizations from 8 countries), as well as several umbrella organizations and networks (such as the European Partnership for Democracy, Political Party Peer Network, Democracy R&D, FIDE, Nets4Dem, etc.). These connections have brought valuable information, best practices, approaches, and partners to Estonian civil society organizations working on democracy development. The potential long-term impact of these connections on Estonia’s democracy development is enormous.
3. Arvamusfestival’s Democracy Area:
The most successful public debate activity was the organization of a whole Democracy Area at the Arvamusfestival (Estonian Democracy Festival), rather than just one discussion. There were 8 discussions, some or all of which focused on democratic development. The co-creation process and report were referenced, and development ideas were discussed with Estonian politicians, researchers, opinion leaders, and civil society leaders. Good practices from other parts of the world were also shared. Three of these discussions were directly tied to the project.
4. Democracy Conference 2023:
The second Democracy Conference, organized by the DD Democracy Center, took place in Tallinn as part of the project. This year, it was held alongside the International Open Government Summit as an official side event. The conference focused on the systematic development of democracy in Estonia, as framed by the co-creation process. Using the "aquarium method," it enabled highly interactive international discussions on these topics.
These activities together helped drive forward the goal of advancing democratic development and innovation in Estonia, fostering both national and international collaboration.
The project aimed to address the challenge of how democratic institutions need to adapt to changes in society to continue fulfilling their roles. To achieve this, the project focused on:
- Raising awareness among Estonian democracy organizations about the importance of democratic innovation.
- Mapping the current state of democratic innovation and identifying areas for improvement.
- Creating an international network to bring knowledge and experience of democratic innovation to Estonia.
- Strengthening the capacity of Estonian NGOs to engage with democratic innovation.
The project successfully achieved the following results:
For Estonian Civil Society:
- The capacity of Estonian civil society organizations to understand and map democratic research grew.
- There was an increase in awareness of democracy researchers working in Estonia and the topics they cover, providing a better foundation for collaboration with researchers.
- Civil society organizations involved in Estonia’s democracy development gained knowledge and skills for working with both Estonian and international researchers and developers.
For International Cooperation:
- A large international network of democracy developers was established, giving Estonia’s democracy practitioners access to useful information, approaches, best practices, and new partners for future work and advocacy on democracy in Estonia.
- An international database of democracy developers and researchers was created, making it easier for civil society organizations to find suitable researchers and institutions for partnerships, including for future international projects.
- Through the international coalition, new ideas and solutions related to democracy development, used in other countries, were introduced into public discussions in Estonia, especially through the Democracy area at Arvamusfestival.
The project has laid a solid foundation for more targeted and impactful work on democracy development in Estonia.
Summary of bilateral results
The Norwegian partner was critically important, especially towards the beginning of the project - because they helped DD to get their foot in the door in the first network (PPPN), which in turn led DD to the next partners (Demo Finland, Danish Institute for Parties and Democracy) and networks (mainly EPD) and finally towards the end of the project connected DD with almost all major European democracy networks (FIDE, DR&D, Nets4Dem). The Norwegian partner helped to legitimize DD in the international community of democracy organizations and to navigate communication and cooperation with them on an ongoing basis.The plan is to continue mapping the Norwegian democracy ecosystem with the partner when the new larger Norwegian Democracy Center is established.