Strengthening Parliaments’ Capacity in Public Engagement

This project will support parliaments across the world to develop their capacity to deliver effective public engagement practices for better trust between citizens and governance. Building on the University of Leeds’ expertise in public engagement, we will co-work with the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU - the global organisation of parliaments) to plan, disseminate and implement a programme of knowledge exchange events to support staff in parliaments across the world.

This programme will follow the launch of IPU’s Global Parliamentary Report on Public Engagement, to disseminate key principles of good practice in public engagement and enhance local practice within legislatures. Leeds’ International Parliament Engagement Network (IPEN), which was closely involved in the production of the report, will lead the programme.

The knowledge exchange events will build on IPEN’s experience in organising similar events for its 250 members from over 30 countries across six continents, expanding and deepening its reach considerably through IPU’s 178 member parliaments and their thousands of staff; particularly promoting access to more institutions in the global south. The events will be tailor-made to bridge the democratic divide in parliamentary public engagement, stimulating peer-to-peer learning between institutions and staff and focusing on the specific needs of each context.