9 & 10 oktober 2025

The Hague - NL

Accessible, open, and autonomous

Digital Democracy The Hague will bring together 350 practitioners and experts for two days to expand knowledge, build bridges, and create connections. We explore how digital tools can contribute to inclusive and meaningful participation from both government and citizens.

Register Programme

SPEAKERS

Mariette van Leeuwen (NL)

Provincial Executive

Nienke Meijer (NL)

Chairman National Citizens Assembly

Tom Wilkinson (UK)

Chief Data Officer Scottish Government

Colin Megill (NL)

CEO & Founder, Pol.is

Marleen Stikker (NL)

Director Waag Futurelab

Art de Blaauw (NL)

CIO Dutch Government

Cedric Vuye (NL)

Associate Professor University Antwerp

Bruno Monteiro (FR)

Cluster Lead ‘Innovation in Public Service’ OECD

Gwennaelle Costa le Vaillant (FR)

Directrice Région Ile de France (FR)

Laura Menenti (NL)

Officer in Charge Government Commissioner

Peter Smet (NL)

Director Journalism Incentive Fund

Carla Weber (NL)

Director Province of Zuid-Holland

Celine Sutorius (NL)

Participation Expert Province of Zuid-Holland

Hendrik Nahr (NL)

Head of European affairs, Make.org

Geer-Jan Bogaerts (NL)

Chairman Public Spaces

Shannon Spruit (NL)

Co-Founder Populytics

All speakers (91)

PROGRAMME

The programme for the two conference days is currently being developed. There will be multiple tracks in both English and Dutch. The programme will consist of keynotes, panels, academic talks, workshops and case studies. Come back soon for more updates.

Download Programme
Keynote Track
13 sessies →
9 okt | 09:30 Official opening of the conference 9 okt | 09:45 Dutch National Citizen Assembly 9 okt | 11:00 Become a doctor for democracys digital diseases 9 okt | 13:00 Prioritizing public values in AI and tech 9 okt | 14:00 De invloed van houding en gedrag op particpatieprocessen 9 okt | 15:00 How hybridity strengthens participation: Opportunities and challenges in combining online and offline participation methods 9 okt | 16:00 De Oorzaak, the largest citizen science project on environmental noise: results and lessons learnt 9 okt | 17:00 – 19:00 Drinks and networking 10 okt | 10:00 Scottish public participation, data & services 10 okt | 11:00 Hoe bouwen we samen aan digitale publieke infrastructuur 10 okt | 12:00 When participation reproduces power: A Gender-Informed Lens 10 okt | 13:00 Citizen participation and democratic tools at the European level 10 okt | 14:00 Peter Smet / Ib Haarsma
Panel Track
6 sessies →
9 okt | 10:45 – 12:00 BETTI Consortium: Responsible AI 9 okt | 13:00 – 14:15 Kennisknooppunt Participatie: Limits to digital democracy 9 okt | 14:45 – 16:00 OECD: Improving civic participation with emerging technologies 10 okt | 10:00 – 11:15 Kennisknooppunt Participatie: Innovating the participation landscape 10 okt | 12:30 – 13:45 Commons Network: Civic Infrastructure for Democracy 10 okt | 14:15 – 15:30 VNG (Association of Dutch Municipalities): Digital Public Space and Democracy
Academic Track
6 sessies →
9 okt | 11:00 – 12:30 European Digital Democracy Network: Contemporary Research (1) 9 okt | 13:30 – 15:00 European project: Advancing Digital Democracy Innovation (ADDI) 9 okt | 15:30 – 17:00 AI4Deliberation: AI-enabled deliberative platforms in public organisations 10 okt | 09:30 – 11:00 European Digital Democracy Network: Contemporary Research (2) 10 okt | 11:30 - 13:00 European project: Participatory Democracy that Scales (PERYCLES) 10 okt | 14:00 – 15:30 European project: Innovative Democracy Through Digitalization (INNOVADE)
Workshop Track
4 sessies →
9 okt | 10:30 – 12:30 Van Idee tot Impact: Ontwerp je Eigen Participatietraject 9 okt | 14:00 – 16:00 Hoe zet ik Citizen Science in bij het meten van de leefomgeving 10 okt | 09:30 – 11:30 OpenStad, Polis, Consul. Snel schakelen met open participatietools. 10 okt | 13:00 – 15:00 Data, representatie en participatie
Case Studies 1
8 sessies →
9 okt | 11:00 – 12:00 Linking Polis Insights with Mini-Publics in the UK 9 okt | 13:00 – 14:00 Pol.is community approach, developing the opinion space 9 okt | 14:30 – 15:30 Inzet VR bij online participatie: van kaart naar beleving 10 okt | 09:30 – 10:30 Participatory Democracy in Slovakia 10 okt | 10:45 – 11:45 Genuanceerde burgerparticipatie in gespannen tijden 10 okt | 12:00 – 13:00 The ‘Assense’ area approach with AI 10 okt | 13:15 – 14:15 ‘In gesprek met de overheid over online seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag 10 okt | 14:30 – 15:30 School bouwen of grasveld behouden? Digital Democracy als gamechanger in gemeente Vught
Case Studies 2
9 sessies →
9 okt | 11:00 – 12:00 Scaling Civic Tech in Europe – Insights from Developing and Scaling Polis in Finland 9 okt | 13:00 – 14:00 Using Polis in We Are Drenthe conversations 9 okt | 14:30 – 15:30 De Mienskip aan het woord 9 okt | 16:00 – 17:00 Digital Child Rights 10 okt | 09:30 – 10:30 Capellebouwtaandestad.nl 10 okt | 10:45 – 11:45 Zendmast Waarde 10 okt | 12:00 – 13:00 Hoe één inwonersinitiatief de aanzet geeft voor het digitale hart van hun stad 10 okt | 13:15 – 14:15 Hoe gemeente Zwolle werkt aan een AI-collega voor participatie 10 okt | 14:30 – 15:30 Doe mee over SMB, digitale dialoog in de praktijk

ACADEMIC CONTRIBUTIONS

Throughout the conference, there will be an academic track organized by Frederik Van De Putte (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Davide Grossi (University of Groningen, University of Amsterdam) in the framework of the European Digital DemocracY network (EDDY). EDDY brings together academics with practitioners to collaborate on the topic of digital democracy.

Digital Democracy The Hague thus offers space for academic contributions (e.g. in computer science, political science, philosophy, communication science) on the topic of digital democracy. The academic track will feature talks by individual researchers and project leaders of large (European) research projects. More info about the sessions will be provided soon on this page.

For more information, please contact the organization via digitaalzuidholland@pzh.nl.

LOCATION

The conference will take place at the Provincial hall, The Hague.

Address

Provinciehuis Zuid-Holland
Zuid-Hollandplein 1
2596 AW The Hague
The Netherlands

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PARTNERS

MADE POSSIBLE BY

This conference is part of the Polis NL project of the provinces of South Holland and Groningen, funded by the Innovation Budget of the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.